Love You Forever
by ProductOfADysfunctionalFamily
Summary: -up goes chapter 14!-The Mario Brothers have always loved and looked out for one another, but a war between the Sarasas and Toadstool's threatens their brotherly bond.
1. Tears to match the rain

Discaimer- If you didn't already know these characters are copyright of nintendo you must be really stranfg because if I owned such famous characters, I'd most likely be in a cushy mansion somewhere, rollin in the dough, this story is just for pleasure and no bacon is being shelled out in return for it.  
  
A/N- Just a warning, this is one of those mushy gushy kinda stories in some parts, and then there's a bit of a battle in some parts too, basically it's romance and danger, so please read it even if kissing makes you vomit, because it isn't all like that.  
  
.:*:.  
  
Princess Daisy sat by the fireplace; a cheerful expression glowed in her heart as well as on her beautiful face. She had never felt this way about him before; she was bursting with emotion. She had never been truly in love before, and now she understood how silly people acted when under the spell of it.  
  
Between her fingers she twirled the daisy he had put in her hair, it was so beautiful, dainty little daisies always were.  
  
Luigi was so adorable, the way he shyly handed her a gift, or put his arm around her, he didn't treat her like a mere trophy, as many handsome princes begging to court her would.  
  
She remembered their last get together, it was sheer magic. They had gone for a walk in a beautiful lush forest, the ground was decorated with little patches of daisies and a trickling river could be seen in the horizon. Luigi glanced into her eyes and plucked one of the delicate flowers from the dew covered grass and placed it in Daisy's tossled hair.  
  
Then in that instant, raindrops calmly began to fall from the sky, but it didn't ruin anything, quite the contrary! It only enchanced that moment. They danced together in the essence of the rainfall's beauty, and giggled like foolish children, then Luigi touched her arm for her to stop and immediately leaned in closer and put his hand on her cheek. The cleansing scent of a summer storm hung lightly in the air as he bent down and kissed her sweetly.  
  
Daisy's flash back ended as she fell on her stomach and sighed, she and Luigi were so different, yet entirely compatible, and nothing would ever alter that. Not a single conflict in the world could lower her from the cloud she was floating on now, not ever.  
  
**** Meawhile at The mushroom kingdom.  
  
Mario sat before his lovely princess, she had been trying to tell him something for minutes now, but the tear ducts in her eyes continued to rush liquid down her smooth cheeks, each drop seeming to follow the same path. Of course this made it rather difficult to clearly speak.  
  
"Come now Peach, surely you can tell me." Mario said, trying to sooth his solemn girlfriend.  
  
The princess wouldn't hault her eyes from leaking though; it was a rare occasion when Mario could not console her.  
  
The plumber began to feel concern surge through him, as he greatly cared for this woman's well being and needed to know what had her so distressed.  
  
"I love you Princess, I always will, and I want to make those tears go away, " he said kindly as he put his gloved hand on her shoulder.  
  
A small grin seemed to find a temporary home on her tear stained face as she began to speak with a cracking voice. "I have some very disturbing news."  
  
She tried to clear her throat, as her guest listened intentively, it lifted a little depression off her soul to know he never minded lending an ear, even if Peach wanted to moan over a bad hair cut, he would always pay attention and sooth her rippled emotions.  
  
"Mario," She began, standing up and clutching a lacy handkerchief in her hands."Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like if you and your brother were seperated?"  
  
Mario couldn't understand why peach would mention something like that, but he naturally figured she had a very painful story on her chest, and realized he'd better not say anything to heart shattering.  
  
"No," he said. "I've never pondered on those things."  
  
"Well," the princess replied with a sniffle, " try to envision it, imagine how you would feel, because I'm sure it matches my sentiments this very moment."  
  
Mario suddenly felt like someone had stolen his heart to make a paper airplane with, "What happened?" he asked.  
  
The princess began to feel another tear forming in her eye, so all she could do was motion to the pudgy plumber, and lead him to their destination.  
  
They treaded through the palace courtyard, and finally into a muddy area entwined in grape vines.  
  
"look!" Peach managed to choke just before her sobs were let out.  
  
Mario stepped forward meekly, afraid of what his eyes would behold, but he knew for Peach's sake, he had to view what had caused her such woe, so his heart, now just returned as a paper weight instead of a plane, raced rapidly as he walked closer and looked down into a thick pile of mud, instantly trapped in a haze of confusion, a chilling rush passing through his bones. He could almost hear Peach's tears flowing behind him, and could understand her feelings, what he saw was definitely quite disturbing.  
  
(ha ha ha! A cliffhanger! So what do you think? Love or hate, I'm continuing this story because I want a lot of Mario stories and I want a finished story too!) 


	2. A Kingdom in mourning

I have edited this chapter again! So enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer- none of these characters are mine, as if you didn't already know. Except for one character I made up, Introducing Frog  
  
A/n- WARNING! From this point on people will be killed off!  
  
Mario felt his shoes sinking through the muck on the ground as his sapphire eyes stared at the heap below him that was a painful recollection of many of Peach's most joyous memories. He may not have been the richest or handsomest fellow, but the now lifeless being that lie before them had made the princess smile even on the dreariest of days.  
  
The energetic little retainer, Toad, was now no more than a sack of flesh empty of a soul, waiting for a proper burial spot worthy of his presence.  
  
Mario felt a small sting of lonliness in the pit of his heart as well. Toad had helped him and his brother rescue peach numerous times. He might have played a small role, but he always offered valuable information to help save the kingdom, and the little mushroom-capped boy would most certainly not be forgotten.  
  
"Who could have done this?" Peach sobbed as she collapsed onto the ground, not the least bit concerned that her dress was quite obviously destroyed.  
  
Mario walked over to the fair-haired beauty and touched her porcelain-like cheek gently. It seemed hard to think of words that could console her. Mario wasn't poetic and in some cases couldn't handle times of sorrow very easily, all he could offer through his voice was, "I'll miss Toad too! I'll be certain whoever did this will not go unpunished"  
  
For the first time that day, Peach let a portion of a grin shine through, and then she enclosed her arms around Mario and their lips met.  
  
After the intimate moment at the crisis scene, Peach and Mario laced fingers and slowly walked back to the Mushroom Kingdom, both of them beginning to let it dawn upon them that that their beloved, bright eyed friend would not be waiting to usher them inside.  
  
An hour or so before Mario had arrived at the kingdom, word had circulated that the youngest and most beloved retainer had been murdered, and even though he was but a mere servant, all the residents under the castle roof were devastated.  
  
Especially one young boy who had just arrived at the castle earlier on, hired as a Toad replacement, even though he didn't have the same loveable spark in him.  
  
The young boy stood against a wall, while people whispered rude things about him. It was painful and unbearable, he hated life in the kingdom, as a matter of fact he hated life all together with out his bigger brother.  
  
The new rookie retainer's name was frog. As impossible as it may seem, he was even smaller than his elder brother, and his polka dot head was brown and white as opposed to Toad's signature red and white.  
  
Frog sniffed, trying to hold back tears that he needed to let out miserably.  
  
He wanted to express his deep sadness and love for his brother, but he knew he'd make an even worse impression on the other retainers if he made an image for himself as a crybaby.  
  
He shuddered to think how much more hideous he'd make matters for himself. Imagine it, he'd earn the title of weakling or sob factory, and have to add that with being The Princess's new assistant.  
  
It was too much pressure; Toad had been a great friend to the princess, now Frog would have too much stress filling his young life.  
  
"I wish you hadn't died big brother." He said solemnly in his girly, squeaky voice.  
  
At that moment Peach walked in by herself as Mario journeyed back to his house. The princess saw Frog standing there and sighed "another trainee for becoming a retainer."  
  
~  
  
Mario walked through the streets soaked in darkness; the only noticeable light was the moon hanging above like a baby's mobile.  
  
He kept envisioning the dead body of toad in his mind, and knew sleep would be a troubling event for him this evening.  
  
As he scuffed his feet through puddles of murky water, everything in sight reminding him of the abrupt end of Toad's life, he couldn't help but wonder what Luigi would say.  
  
Would he care? Would he think his older brother was lying? Would he not even remember who Toad was?  
  
Mario bit his lip and corrected himself. The proper word was IS not WAS. Saying, "who Toad was." Only made him remember this was all reality.  
  
"Something bad is bound to happen, I have a feeling," he thought as he finally arrived at the small shack he and his brother shared.  
  
The red clad plumber walked in through the front door and saw Luigi in the living room, watching a t.v show.  
  
"Luigi, I have to tell you something." Mario said, his voice sounding hoarse. Luigi looked up at Mario, knowing something horrible had happened before his brother even mentioned a word of the day's events.  
  
Mario decided he could no longer hold it in any more. He blurted it out quickly, which wasn't hard considering it had been imbedded in his brain.  
  
"Toad has been murdered!" At first Luigi looked dazed and emotionless, as if he didn't even know who Toad was.  
  
"Peach and I saw his dead body lying out in the yard, covered in blood and muck!"  
  
Luigi rose from the couch he had been sitting on and looked his brother in the face. He was about to say something, when suddenly the phone rang.  
  
Both brothers felt morbid and depressed, solemn forces over powering them from continuing all pleasant aspects of life. How they longed the ringing would stop, but the phone continued to ring so to silence it, Luigi picked it up, a afraid of what the voice on the other end would say.  
  
"Hello?" he asked.  
  
Mario couldn't hear what the man on the other end was saying; he could only hear his brother's contribution to the conversation.  
  
"What? This is a joke! What happened? I'm coming down there!"  
  
Luigi instantly smashed the phone down and grabbed his jacket.  
  
"What's the matter?" Mario asked.  
  
Luigi's back was facing Mario as his face shook and his eyes grew damp. He didn't want his more courageous sibling to see him shed droplettes from his eyes, but he reluctantly turned around and said, "Daisy's hurt! And I'm going down to sarasaland!"  
  
Mario didn't know what reaction would be soothing or polite enough for his brother, so he simply replied, "I'm coming with you!" and together the Mario brothers raced out of their home and off to find the sarasaland warp pipe.  
  
Kinda boring I know. Sorry if you like toad (sorry if his killing didn't have any impact on the story.) but I had to get another chapter and I couldn't think of another character to kill. I was thinking of the chancellor or king or queen, but you ever really see them and everyone believes different things about who else rules tmk. So anyway r+r! 


	3. allies to enemies

Mario and Luigi arrived at the Sarasaland palace gates; both worried terribly about the princess.  
  
Luigi gripped onto the steel bars of the gateway and tried to tug and swing it open with all his might.  
  
"agggh!" He cried, frustration overpowering him as he let his defeat overcome all strength, and turn his body into a withering pile of human flesh, slumping down on the mud.  
  
Mario saw the pain in Luigi, how he truly loved Daisy, if anything had ever killed her he would most likely act as Romeo and kill himself, or kill the person responsible for her death. It hurt the older Mario to see his younger sibling so distraught, even more than that, he was becoming frightened over the events of the day, What if Daisy had come to the same fate as Toad?  
  
Mario kicked the gateway and tried to make as much noise as he could, until he finally saw a small trench filled with rainwater. The trench was just big enough for the petite one to slip through and under the fence.  
  
Mario did just that, covering his once bright scarlet outfit in a mess of brown slush.  
  
Once he slid underneath to the other side, he opened the gate and Luigi ran in as if he had been charged with a mushroom.  
  
Luckily for them both, the castle was unlocked, and they entered without any caution what so ever, scattering mud and dirt on the shiny polished floor.  
  
As they stormed through, the King, whose face fore told that the coming news would hurt the brothers badly, welcomed Luigi. A pair of beefy men carrying swords that were shiny enough to be used as mirrors, however, held Mario back.  
  
"It's me, Mario, I rescued Daisy once!" Mario cried feeling very unappreciated.  
  
The king seemed reluctant to pull the guards away, but eventually he said, "Release him." And the men stepped back, freeing Mario to resume a position next to his younger brother.  
  
The king escorted them into a room they had never seen before, and to be honest they were lucky they had never seen it, this room sent a surge of even more pain and despair into their hearts the second they arrived.  
  
Inside were odd contraptions and beds that held people inside. In every bed a terribly ill person lie, and the funny machines looked as if they were slicing and dicing the people into bits.  
  
Mario put a hand over his mouth in awe, when suddenly Luigi's jaw dropped as he fled across the room, eyes beginning to water. He stopped next to a small twin bed with a stuffed animal on it, that held a person who was bandaged and bleeding critically, one dainty hand hung out from underneath the covers with a daisy in-between two fingers.  
  
"Daisy?" Luigi asked in a squeaky cracking voice that didn't sound like his own.  
  
The bruised young woman opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sniffle.  
  
"I didn't wish for you to see me, I look awful." She said breaking off into tears.  
  
"no. you're wrong. You're beautiful, and you always will be.  
  
The princess smiled weakly and instantly Luigi dove as close as he could to her and planted the sweetest most innocent kiss imaginable on her soft, pillowy lips.  
  
The two heart broken lovers looked at each other and wiped their tears.  
  
"Who did this to you, what happened?" Luigi asked, taking her arm to study the marks on her wrist.  
  
The question seemed to cause even more sadness and even some fear hit Daisy, but she handled a mature response. "The. the kingdom's been.bombed!!!"  
  
She eventually started sobbing and leaned her face into Luigi's shoulder. He could only stroke her hair and peck her fore head as she continued her story.  
  
"I don't understand, I was just relaxing in the lounge in front of the fire. It was just about time for dinner in the grand dining hall and the chef had cooked up something delicious as always."  
  
"all I remember was the loudest noise I've ever heard, blasting my ears. It looked like a fire lit up in front of me...." A few more tears slipped out. "And then I woke up with these bright lights shining in my face."  
  
Luigi hated to hear of Daisy being in so much pain, especially after what the result had amounted to. It only led to more pain for her, and a sore body that would take weeks, probably months to heal.  
  
"this bomb is obviously a declaration of war." Mario replied suddenly. "You need to round up your allies, quick, call in for the Toadstools, Peach will be delighted to help!"  
  
Daisy sniffled and shed a few more tears, "How can she? Mario, the bomb came from The Mushroom Kingdom!"  
  
"you don't know that!" Mario yelled, not about to let someone accuse Peach of anything.  
  
"Mario, you don't understand, I know the bomb was a declaration of war because-"  
  
Mario bit his tongue and his lip at the same time to keep from slashing Daisy with angry words and obscenities, and to prevent tears from falling.  
  
Just when he began to worry that Peach was just vicious and blood thirsty, he remembered Toad, the Sarasa's had murdered Toad!  
  
"I can't stand the sight of this, and to think I pitied you Daisy!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Luigi asked.  
  
"The Sarasa's brought this upon themselves! And I will not stand here and listen to Daisy try and pick at Peach, all I can say is you got what you deserved and I will not stay here any longer!"  
  
Luigi gave Daisy a gentle kiss and said good-bye, knowing he should probably follow after Mario.  
  
Just before the two brother's left, the solemn voice of Daisy replied, "You guys better decide who you're allies with, the toadstool's have declared war on us.  
  
~  
  
The walk home was silent for the most part, neither brother wanted to say a word, for both would be slightly biased on their opinions about the war.  
  
They sloshed through puddles, jumped through pipes and still not a word was spoken, harsh or not.  
  
Then finally, a few miles from home, Mario spoke up.  
  
"How dare she blame Peach? This is insane! I won't put up with any of this!"  
  
"Mario! Why the hell won't you listen to anyone? Peach declared war on the Sarasa's Daisy was trying to tell you that!"  
  
Mario just stopped walking and looked his brother in the eye.  
  
"Loving somebody is one thing, but disregarding family and not standing up for what's right takes away any heroic qualities you ever had!" he screamed walking faster ahead of Luigi.  
  
The younger Mario jogged to catch up with his elder sibling.  
  
"Stop doing this to me! All I want is to know what reason the Toadstool's would have for any of this!"  
  
"But what about Toad? Maybe All peach could do was declare war? Don't you think she's suffered enough what with Bowser's constant attacks!"  
  
"Okay, but so what? You've rescued her every time! She hasn't really been through any horrendous ordeal!"  
  
Mario gave the younger Mario a small shove. "There are things about her you don't even know."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"You piece of shit fruit cup! Quit being ornery and just let someone be right for a change!"  
  
"Well how about this, remember the Mario brothers? What ever happened to them? Now it's all about Mario! Well what if I did decide to join the Sarasaland army? Maybe I want to be the star, fly solo for a while and rescue the girl that loves me and not my brother!"  
  
"Maybe for once you can accept the fact that you're a reject, out cast, little whiney freak that nobody even wants around in the first place! Maybe that's why nobody knows you exist!!"  
  
Luigi couldn't stand it any longer; he grabbed Mario by the next and slammed him down into the ground, knocking his face against a wall.  
  
Mario sat still for a moment, both brothers caught in an eerie silence, then in rage, Mario jumped up, kicked his brother in the shin, and smacked him so hard he fell on his back.  
  
Just before Luigi could get up and lunge back, Mario put a hand out and said calmly; "lets just admit this to ourselves, we can't be that team anymore. We can't stand each other, go ahead and fly solo; we all have our own ideas."  
  
Luigi lifted himself up and walked away, going the road opposite of their house, not another word or look was exchanged just a painful feeling in Mario's heart.  
  
Mario leaned against the wall and felt himself sliding down as he buried his face into his hands. That was it, the Mario brothers really were over.... 


	4. A Broken Promise

*sorry it took me so long for the next chapter, but honestly, it's hard for me to write such a serious story especially when. ITS ALMOST MARCH AND I'M GONNA BE THIRTEEN!  
  
Everyone- shut up, it ain't that important!  
  
Me- FINE! Just for that I'm gonna make a story and kill off everyone's favorite character.  
  
Mario- gulp, why do I get the feeling I'm gonna die?  
  
Me- oh please, you're not everyone's favorite character (luigi is though. snicker snicker)  
  
Luigi- AHHHH!  
  
Me- enough of this nonsense I give you the next chapter, oh yeah, I have just kidnapped these characters for my own hostile enjoyment, I did not create them.  
  
Mario- *sniffle* then who's my mommy?*  
  
Me- and I am making no money, now on with it already!  
  
~  
  
Mario was tearing his heart into shards while he sat at home by himself. He kept worrying about the younger Mario. Where will he go? Will he survive? Here he was, supposed to be the best big brother ever, and he had sent his little buddy off into the wilderness to fend for himself.  
  
How cold he had been, he'd allowed turmoil to rise above them and engulf the love they once shared. Their brotherly love was deeper than even the romances they shared with the princesses, and thanks to those two stubborn kingdoms they might never share another tear, or laugh again.  
  
Mario suddenly began to regret that day he fell down that pipe. He wished he had never wandered into this dreadful place.  
  
For every sweat drop he'd had in the real world, he'd had twice as many here, rescuing this princess, how often he wondered if she truly loved him.  
  
Sitting there, wishing he had run up to his brother and stopped him, instead of walking away huffing angrily, he began to reflect on his past.  
  
He remembered looking through the window of a door in a hospital, bright lights beaming down on his mother as she tried to blink back tears. Mario could see them though, glistening in her eyes as visible as her diamond earrings. He understood her pain. She knew she was going to die, but was pretending to fight for the sake of her two little boys.  
  
Luigi had been clutching a green stuffed duck in his hands and was sobbing insanely on Mario's shoulder. The older brother figured the best thing he could do for the little guy, is give him that rude, yet beneficial awakening.  
  
"Weegie, let go, mommy needs you!" Mario replied calmly, gently peeling his brother off of his side.  
  
"But Maweeo, I'm scared, I don't wanna watch mama die, I wanna stay here by you!" Luigi whined clutching his duckie even tighter.  
  
The fear and despair his little brother held was painful, but Mario persisted. "weegie, just go. I'll hold your hand and walk up to mommy with you."  
  
Finally the dark curly haired little boy nodded and hand in hand the brothers walked to their mama's bedside.  
  
"Boys," Maria Mario coughed. "You shouldn't be here. Mommy needs her rest. Maria's head was covered in perspiration. Her body was skinny and weak; she hadn't eaten in days, and refused to.  
  
"Luigi, please leave sweetheart." Maria replied putting a hot hand on the young one's cheek. Luigi nodded his head, young but, wise enough to realize, that was the last touch he'd ever feel from his mother.  
  
Maria waited until the door shut behind her youngest boy and began." Mario, honey, I hope you're mature enough to handle this, but I didn't want to tell Luigi." Maria instantly began profusely spouting tears. "Sweetie, I only have 10 minutes left to live."  
  
Mario felt as if someone had taken a powerful blow to his head with a t- ball bat.  
  
"Mama, you can't go, Luigi's to young, he needs a mommy, I still need a mommy, please don't go!"  
  
Maria felt her soul dying sooner than her body when she heard her little boy's words, and suddenly reached a bony hand under her covers and took something out.  
  
"Open it now dear." She said handing a beautifully wrapped box to Mario.  
  
The small boy tore the box open hurriedly and moved some tissue paper away, revealing two caps, a green one and a crimson one.  
  
"The red one is for you dear, it'll be a little lop sided at first, but you'll fit into it when you're older."  
  
Mario giggled as he put the cap on his head and watched it flop from side to side when he moved. His fascination and delight with the funny hat soon diminished though, when he looked back into his mama's sad miserable eyes.  
  
"Mario, give the green one to your brother, and when you both fit into them, I want you to always wear them as often as you can. This'll seal the bond between you two forever, you'll both have a symbol of love and brotherhood, a crest of our family. And Mario, I want you to watch your little brother, love him, and honor him as he honors and respects you. I may not be here to protect him, but now that's your job."  
  
"Why mama?"  
  
"because, you're always going to be very close to him, you two are brothers, that's something no one can change, and if I'm not here to watch my boys grow up, I'll rest in peace easier knowing they love and protect one another."  
  
Mario nodded his head and gave his mama a hug, unable to keep himself from crying.  
  
Maria held her boy tightly and recited a poem to him.  
  
And when the evening night is cold and dreary  
  
And the loss of light makes us all feel weary  
  
I'll hold you in my arms gladly knowing  
  
That we are loving brothers, the love is showing  
  
I'll be your flashlight in the evening dark  
  
I'll lead you through the spooky thick of the park  
  
I'll give you all the love you could ask of me  
  
We've been left a lone but are still a family.  
  
"mama, it'll be too scary for you to die." He said woefully.  
  
"Oh no sweetie, death is wonderful. I'll be free from this body that's given me pain, and float freely in a place where love and purity is all the residents know. And some day, perhaps I'll see you too."  
  
Mario smiled meekly as he took his cap off his head and took both matching hats in his pudgy little hands.  
  
Maria began to feel herself slipping away and suddenly was floating into a golden light, angel voices calling her. The sounds and sights of a new world blocked out the voice of her little boy.  
  
Mario grabbed his mother's hand and cried when he realized her soul had now left the body and he was talking to no more than a lifeless sack of flesh.  
  
He walked out of the room and ran to his little brother, embracing him. "Luigi, Mama's gone!" he said in between sobs.  
  
Luigi cried yes, but Mario gave him his hat and said just what Maria had. "I'm your older brother weegie, and I'll always be here."  
  
At that instant Luigi filled Mario's heart with joy as he said, "You're just as good as Mama, Mario, and I wouldn't want anyone else to grow up with me, just promise you'll never leave me."  
  
~  
  
Mario came back from his flash back, even more depressed than he had been before. He'd broken his mama's promise, and relived a horrible memory all in the same day. He could no longer stand it he had to see Peach  
  
~  
  
Mario soon arrived at the Mushroom kingdom, to find Peach yelling at frog as he tried his best to recite the line just as Toad had.  
  
"thanx a bunch Mario, but our princess is in another-"  
  
"NO NO NO! It's not thanx a bunch! It's thank you Mario!"  
  
Mario slammed the door and caught Peach's attention, who ran to him and caressed him.  
  
"Oh Mario, I miss Toad so much, I don't know what to do!" she said, crying on the elder brothers shoulder just as Luigi used to.  
  
"Peach, I have to talk to you." He said, removing her from him. "I just heard the Toadstool's bombed Sarasalnd kingdom, please tell me that isn't so!"  
  
Peach looked down. "I'm a fraid it is."  
  
"But why???" Mario cried! "I mean, all over Toad! One murder and you BOMB a kingdom!"  
  
"The bomb hardly did any damage, and besides that Toad was our most loved retainer and-"  
  
"You just don't get it do you? My brother hates me now! And I wish I'd never met you to begin with, you petty princesses always start wars over frivolous things! How do you know Sarasaland started this anyway?"  
  
"No Mario Mario! It's you that doesn't get it! And I'd prefer you just join the Sarasaland forces and get it over with, because you obviously don't love me!" Peach cried, running up the marble stair cases into her royal bedroom.  
  
"Oh great! That really adds to the good of my existence. I make my brother hate me! Now my true love! What's wrong with me?" Mario asked.  
  
Suddenly, he felt a small body approach him and looked down to see Frog. "Your brother isn't dead, is he?" he scoffed.  
  
"Look Frog, I'm sorry, but you wouldn't understand my life!"  
  
"Id really like you to give me a chance, sir Mario!"  
  
Mario laughed, "Just Mario please."  
  
Frog looked down, "I can't get anything right. Miss Toadstool hates me and Misses my brother, and I can't even get names right."  
  
"Don't get discouraged Frog, I remember when I first came here from the real world, no one would accept me, but then Peach and I, well, we sort of fell in love I guess, I just hate it when I make her mad."  
  
"well, Mario, you don't understand what all this war is about, do you?"  
  
Mario smiled at frog. "No, I guess I don't enlighten me, please."  
  
"how it happened was, The toadstool's refused to allow Sarasaland to enter this kingdom's portal to the real world and attack. Sarasaland wanted to conquer, but Toad stepped forward and defended you and Luigig, saying you were from the real world and he would never take his eyes off the portal. Sarasaland figured their only way of getting into the portal was to simply go to it, Toad seemed like enough of a push over, but he put up a good fight and still wouldn't let them budge, so they murdered Toad and threw his body out into the courtyard so they could get to the portal, but Princess Toadstool caught them and had an army of guards behind her. Sarasaland army fled and when she found Toad's dead body, she was devastated, so for revenge, Two bombs were sent over to sarasaland."  
  
Mario felt so cruel. He had no idea sarasaland had broken in and murdered toad for that reason, he also hadn't known Peach was a witness.  
  
"Gee frog, I feel awful, thanks for telling me that."  
  
Frog's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh Mario! Could you please join the War on our side? PLEASE???"  
  
Mario grinned. "You bet I will Frog"  
  
The young boy leapt in the air cheering, an impeccable resemblance to his brother shone through.  
  
"I'd better apologize to Peach, I'll talk to you later Frog." And then Mario walked up the stair case and into Peach's room.  
  
"Hi Peach." He said softly.  
  
The princess turned her back to him, half angry, and half just not wishing to show him her tear stained cheeks.  
  
"Look princess, I'm sorry, Frog just told me the whole thing, I didn't know any of that."  
  
"It seems a lot different once you know the truth huh?" Peach said angrily.  
  
"Yes, and I'm sorry I doubted you, but, I, I've always been Luigi's bigger brother, and I'm supposed to look out for him.... I feel selfish leaving him to thrive for himself."  
  
"Mario, Please, join our forces, I swear I'm sorry for tearing you two a part, but Luigi's a big boy now, and... all I can say is. please?" Peach replied, walking up to Mario and standing next to him, fingering his mustache.  
  
Mario gazed into Peach's eyes and gave her a kiss with a head nod. "Yes Peach, I already promised Frog."  
  
Peach smiled lightly as she walked with Mario down the hall to the throne room.  
  
"Chancellor, we have a new recruit!" she replied happily. 


	5. The battle begins

[ here is my story disclaimer about writing a disclaimer. once upon a time I wrote a story, I had to give credit to the people who came up with these characters which are not mine, except for Frog. I also had to apologize profusely for tormenting their characters and killing them off. I screamed, "DON'T SUE ME!!!!!!!!" but I got sued anyway. The end]  
  
oh and by the way, any sentences with ** at the beginning and end of them is the character thinking something.(I can't figure the html out!) I now present to you, another chapter of, Love you forever  
  
~  
  
"Hmmmm, Mario, you are worthy of a spot in our army I presume, possibly a more glamorous position since you've so often rescued the Princess." The Chancellor said, looking Mario over Approvingly.  
  
"Don't worry about me sir, I'm happy risking my life, you don't have to give me the cushiest job you can find, fighting is what I do best!" Mario replied, his eyes twinkling.  
  
Peach enveloped Mario in a tight squeeze. "Isn't he loyal?" she squeaked.  
  
"Now wait a minute, I can't be too sure, how do I know you aren't a spy?" The chancellor asked with a scratch of his chin.  
  
"I am a spy sir, but for the good of The mushroom kingdom. I was over at Sarasaland kingdom earlier today before I knew about the bombs you sent over, and I can safely swear on my life that I left the instant anyone tried to accuse you of anything."  
  
"Did you retrieve any information that may be valid?"  
  
"I wish I had, but all I learned was that the Sarasa's have a new recruit, my brother."  
  
"are you certain."  
  
"Not completely, but he was defending Daisy as if she were his daughter instead of his girlfriend, and I told him we should go our separate ways, the next thing I knew he went in the direction of Sarasaland kingdom."  
  
"This could spell trouble for us, one of the great Mario brothers on each side against each other? I don't like it. What if he knows your weaknesses and can overpower you, no! It simply will not do!"  
  
"Chancellor, Please! We got the better out of the two brothers anyway! Mario could defeat Luigi without moving a muscle." Peach cried sincerely.  
  
"Alright, fine! Mario, you are now a soldier in the army. Remember, you cannot change forces once you've made up your mind, and unless appointed spy, you may not venture to Sarasaland ever again, unless of course when the war is over. Can you abide by that?" Chancellor asked.  
  
"Yes I can sire! I only pray I don't disappoint you!" Mario replied with a happy leap in the air.  
  
The chancellor smiled. He was much more at ease going into war with the great Mario on his side.  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile at Sarasaland Kingdom, sure enough, Luigi had enlisted in the army, and was standing before his reflection in the mirror, holding a gun in his hands. He tried to put an evil look on his face, and pose with the dangerous weapon, but his heart didn't feel entirely into this.  
  
He'd always been little Luigi, the twiggy, shy follower, always standing behind Mario not accepting any credit for rescuing the princess.  
  
He scoffed. Yea. The princess. (The blonde one) She never even thanked him in the least, just cradled Mario in her arms and treated him to a feasting of cake later that Luigi never got an invitation to.  
  
Just the thought of that alone made Luigi angry enough to shoot the gun at the mirror. He wanted to break that sweet disposition in two and make a new name for himself.  
  
** just wait, they'll see, I'll kill those two off first. I'll watch them fall to the ground pleading for mercy and laugh in their faces when I don't give it to them. They'll see the white light as life slowly begins to slip through their fingers as grains of sand!**  
  
Luigi cackled slightly just envisioning it. He had found glory for Sarasaland and was Marrying Daisy. Lying in a sticky old mud puddle of the remains of The Mushroom kingdom was the dead bodies of his brother and that sugar coated marshmallow of his.  
  
What a great vision.  
  
Interrupting him and sneaking up from behind him came Daisy who locked her arms around his waist and giggled. "Gathered enough courage to bring them down?"  
  
Luigi turned around. "daisy? I I don't understand! How did you-"  
  
Daisy smiled. "My wounds weren't that bad, I'm still not fully recovered though." She replied.  
  
Luigi could tell. She was covered in bandages, and had stitches in her forehead..  
  
"The bomb wasn't major, I think it was just a very week preview of things to come."  
  
"I'm glad." He said with a smile.  
  
"So, how's my soldier doing? You going to take care of them for me?" She asked.  
  
Luigi smiled confidently. "They haven't got a chance!"  
  
Daisy smiled and seductively began to massage his shoulders.  
  
Luigi cocked his head to share in a kiss with the beautiful princess. It was passion and true romance for both of them as Luigi's heart beat rapidly letting him know he had made the right decision.  
  
"Daisy, I-" before Luigi could finish, the chancellor burst in through the door.  
  
"CODE RED! THEY'RE MOVING IN ON US!!" He cried as he grabbed Daisy by her elbow, thrusting her out the door.  
  
"What do you mean?" Luigi asked.  
  
"The enemy was sighted moments ago moving in on our land, come one Luigi! We have a kingdom to protect."  
  
As the sirens began to ring in the distance, Luigi took one last look at his reflection in the mirror and began to reassure himself. "I am a soldier."  
  
~  
  
Over at The Mushroom Kingdom Mario was rushing with the rest of the men over to Sarasaland. It was odd, he had just enlisted, and now he was already being whisked off to Battle.  
  
Peach watched Mario gather his weapons together in anguish.  
  
** I should have never pushed you into joining this troublesome battle. Why did I push my true love into risking his life? I only pray my love, that you don't die** The princess couldn't help but wonder what she had been thinking. Right here, right now could very well be her last chance to look upon his face.  
  
** I pitted brother against brother, I'm to blame, I may as well be hanged**  
  
Peach continued to think these saddening thoughts as she covered her face and leaked a few small tears. If Mario died too, her life would be over.  
  
She heard a clank of metal and the doors opening, Mario was leaving!  
  
**NOOOOOOOOO! What have I done?**  
  
Struck with fear that she would never see him again, Princess Toadstool flew to the door, her long dress flowing behind her, and grabbed Mario, giving him a truly loving kiss.  
  
"don't die." She whimpered slightly, more tears falling.  
  
Mario looked into her eyes and knew something was wrong, but pulled away and left with the rest of the men.  
  
"good-bye Mario, my love!" Peach cried.  
  
The door slammed and the beloved hero was gone.  
  
Peach looked down at the ground, wishing she'd be able to join her Mario during this wretched spilling of blood.  
  
~  
  
Mario marched proudly with the rest of the army. He had hated to see peach so worried, but was certain he'd win this war, and the delight on her face would be worth it.  
  
One by one, each soldier crawled through the warp pipe to Sarasaland and soon enough Mario was there too, on those oh too familiar castle grounds. It almost hurt to walk on them.  
  
Some of the other men from their side were already there, blasting silver bullets from their guns.  
  
Mario suddenly cringed as he saw a bullet hit a man in the heart, causing him to fall down to the ground with a thud, bleeding heavily.  
  
This was a little different than he had thought. Some man he didn't know, who had never harmed him in anyway, would be his victim. What a cruel way of deciding someone's fate, blasting them to bloody bits with a gun.  
  
He wanted to turn back, he felt like a sadist taking part in this, but he didn't want to let Peach down, and knew what Sarasaland was doing was wrong.  
  
So with a breath of fresh air, and a gulp of fear, Mario took a few leaps forward, aimed, and.  
  
BANG!  
  
Perfect shot! His bullet hit a man right in mid trigger pull. The opponent flung himself to the ground.  
  
Easy enough, but he still didn't feel any better about it. His heart plunged into a black hole the instant he pulled that trigger.  
  
After a few more shots, at first trying to purposely miss, Mario began to search for Luigi. What if he hadn't signed up for the war?  
  
He swallowed when he saw the lean young man looking right in someone else's direction. This was it. Now it was really a war.  
  
~  
  
Luigi shot soldier after soldier with his gun, loving the pull of the trigger and relishing spilling the blood. His craving for violence was becoming more and more dominant with every person he killed. The same thing went for his love for Daisy. He kept picturing her smiling and embracing him after defeating the mushroom kingdom.  
  
It was time for him to shine, as soon as he found Mario, he would release a bullet and not look back.  
  
Both brothers began to sweat after a while. They'd never been in an actual war before, so the length of the battle frightened them. Who would win?  
  
~  
  
Peach could see the fighting going on when she gazed through her telescope from the balcony.  
  
She closed her eyes and began to talk to herself. "Mario, I'm so sorry, I wasn't honest, and I kept Frog from being honest. you still know nothing about this war"  
  
As usual, r+r 


	6. Secrets of the battlefield

HELLO! WOW, it's been a while, this story's got cobwebs on it! Lol Anyway, I've got lots of ideas churning and since school ended I can write lots of fics (who needs to go outside? This summer our weather has been sucky) so here is a very belated chapter of love you forever ~ The little man in the cloak stuttered, but eventually he spilled the words from his vile mouth... "The princess has fed her hero some bull about the war. He now thinks this whole thing is over the Sarasa's trying to seize a pipe to the real world." Luigi furrowed his brow and dropped the man on the ground with a thud and a mutter of pain from him. "Amusing, but what importance does that hold for me?" "the most." The man said menacingly. "Right now Mario is focusing on protecting a certain pipe, with him out of the way, it will only make it far easier for you to grasp what Sarasaland really needs." Luigi chuckled a little. "I like the way you think, there will be many coins for this a lone. But please, continue.." The man was obviously won over easily by quick cash so he almost abruptly replied. "I also know where all the castle's power and security is kept." Luigi gave him a glare. "what are you waiting for? Tell me!" The plumber's booming voice frightened the man terribly. "It's in the sapphire brooch that Peach always wears." "what?" Luigi cried. "Who would trust that wench with such an important thing inside her little piece of jewelry? She's completely expendable." With that he reached into his pocket and took a handful of shiny gold and red coins out. Even without any light beaming upon them, they shimmered and shone within the pupils of the greedy man's eyes. He practically drooled at the sight. "I presume this is enough to fuel any man, now be gone, and return when you have more to tell!" The man in the cloak scurried away quickly, as if to escape Luigi before he could strip him of his earnings. He kept the coins cupped in his hands as he ran, like he was savoring the last of their water after a drought. Luigi's eyes stared off in a daze, flames seemed to light within them. In order to get that brooch from Peach and break it, or do whatever he had to, she would have to die. His heart ached over that a little bit. He still had had a very strong friendship with Peach, and she was the love of his brother's life. But there was his brother fighting against him, and once Luigi thought back to the burning bodies and gore on the battlefield he didn't need to think anymore. Peach's life alone wouldn't make up for all the sarasa's lost. He knew what he had to do.. ~ Princess Toadstool lied on the ground, blood dripping from her wrist, a gruesome scrape across her vein, seeming to dig deep within the green line and send even more crimson fluid onto her dress. She was free from the pain for once, free from the stress of being in charge of so many people, free from the painful bind she'd caught herself in from that horrible lie, free from the hurt she had caused others that remained on them as it ricocheted on to her. She felt nothing, saw nothing, and was nothing, just a hump of flesh on the dew-covered grass, as her beloved Toad was. She had made the right decision, all she had done alive was lead her people into a pot hole and cause her loved ones stress. Now that she was gone, they would find their freedom and surely guzzle it as if it ran from a spring Sprawled out on the ground like a rug, she appeared so peaceful, yet shocked and depressed, a little desperation lurked on her appearance too. It would certainly shock Mario to see her like this, but at the moment that was the farthest worry on her mind. The dagger, the deliverer of peace to thousands, the giver of death and the thieve of life, lied to the side, barely grazing her fingertip, she had dropped it after she fell when it dug in her wrist. Her people would cry, their tears would sting their eyes and melt the apples of their cheeks, but soon they would learn that their ruler hadn't been the hero, the real hero was the dagger in all its glory as it swiped out a life that never belonged in the first place. However, if she had had one more sentence, before she had let the weapon save her people, Peach would have taken Mario in her arms, shed a light tear on his shoulder, and after the final embrace she'd rip herself away and say, "I love you, and I'm sorry I ever had to be alive to make you suffer. In loving you so much I am giving you the greatest gift imaginable- setting you free to live and be happy." Then she would have dug in deep, so deep the pain would have been unbearable, the cut would have turned a bold red color and her eyes would have rolled back in alarm. She would have finally removed the thing that had constricted Mario all those years. The whole surrounding area was silent, as if to mourn over the fair princess. Tears seemed to roll from the petals of the flowers as they wilted over onto her delicate face. Birds stopped flying and landed on weak limbs of trees to sing little songs overtop of her. It was over.. ~ While separated from Luigi Daisy felt no need to contain her tears, she let them flow and she eagerly drew them from her eyes. It was too painful to watch this madness. The Toadstool army was already defeating hers; the Sarasa's would be too weak to carry on. They needed a good strategy among other things, and Daisy would have surrendered herself to the Toadstools before telling him this, but Luigi just didn't make a good soldier. His only purpose for fighting was his love for her, and his anger at his brother, he was acting too foolish and quick to pull the trigger. He was a dangerous child. But if Daisy told Luigi this, he'd not only be angry with her, he'd come to the ridiculous conclusion that he wasn't worth anything, and Mario had stolen the spotlight again. All Daisy wanted was for him to forget the war, she just wanted to lie next to him, gaze in his eyes, and feel his body close to hers, knowing that they could forever remain that way. She just loved him so much.. All she wanted was him to be near her. But now he wasn't her deeply blazing passion, he was her soldier, and now it was her duty to be his "angel of the battle field" Daisy just didn't know when the tears would stop. All this depression and worry blended in with confusion was more than her heart could take. Not too long ago she was gushing about her newfound love; she had two friends that were now fighting brutally against her. How she wanted that life back. ~ Contrary to how his once close acquaintances felt, Mario couldn't be happier. He had won the very first battle, done the king proud for sure, and he was certain Peach was beaming with pride. He loved impressing her. She was so beautiful that even when they had come this far, he still felt like he had to prove something to her. The question was. where was she? Mario ran off on his own for a few moments to find Peach, he was so anxious to see her. The general had told him that Peach had stopped by the battlefield earlier asking for him. Apparently he had only missed her by a little bit, but nobody said anything about her taking a carriage ride anywhere, and the chancellor hadn't seen her since the troops had been sent out. For a few minutes Mario's spirits were even higher. "Maybe she wants to surprise me!" He thought happily. But while she wasn't there he had a chance to worry about something else. Had he shot Luigi today? He still couldn't believe his baby brother was fighting against him, and the possibilities of his little twig buddy getting hit by one of his bullets was great. Mario sighed, he really missed the Mario brothers, what a great team they made. After one quick flashback to the day of his mother's death, Mario shrugged and started walking in another direction Another chapter. finally, sorry if it sucks but I had to revive this story. Anyway, if things are a little weird and confusing now, give me a while before you flame me please. I have this story all planned out and it will all work. I promise. 


	7. Changes For the worst

HELLO! WOW, it's been a while, this story's got cobwebs on it! Lol Anyway, I've got lots of ideas churning and since school ended I can write lots of fics (who needs to go outside? This summer our weather has been sucky) so here is a very belated chapter of _love you forever_

~

The little man in the cloak stuttered, but eventually he spilled the words from his vile mouth…..

"The princess has fed her hero some bull about the war.  He now thinks this whole thing is over the Sarasa's trying to seize a pipe to the real world."

Luigi furrowed his brow and dropped the man on the ground with a thud and a mutter of pain from him.  "Amusing, but what importance does that hold for me?"

"the most." The man said menacingly. "Right now Mario is focusing on protecting a certain pipe, with him out of the way, it will only make it far easier for you to grasp what Sarasaland really needs."

Luigi chuckled a little.  "I like the way you think, there will be many coins for this a lone. But please, continue…."

The man was obviously won over easily by quick cash so he almost abruptly replied.  "I also know where all the castle's power and security is kept."

Luigi gave him a glare.  "what are you waiting for? Tell me!"

The plumber's booming voice frightened the man terribly.  "It's in the sapphire brooch that Peach always wears."

"what?" Luigi cried.  "Who would trust that wench with such an important thing inside her little piece of jewelry? She's completely expendable."

  With that he reached into his pocket and took a handful of shiny gold and red coins out. Even without any light beaming upon them, they shimmered and shone within the pupils of the greedy man's eyes. He practically drooled at the sight. "I presume this is enough to fuel any man, now be gone, and return when you have more to tell!"

The man in the cloak scurried away quickly, as if to escape Luigi before he could strip him of his earnings.  He kept the coins cupped in his hands as he ran, like he was savoring the last of their water after a drought.

Luigi's eyes stared off in a daze, flames seemed to light within them.  In order to get that brooch from Peach and break it, or do whatever he had to, she would have to die.

His heart ached over that a little bit.  He still had had a very strong friendship with Peach, and she was the love of his brother's life.

But there was his brother fighting against him, and once Luigi thought back to the burning bodies and gore on the battlefield he didn't need to think anymore. Peach's life alone wouldn't make up for all the sarasa's lost. 

He knew what he had to do….

~

Princess Toadstool lied on the ground, blood dripping from her wrist, a gruesome scrape across her vein, seeming to dig deep within the green line and send even more crimson fluid onto her dress. 

She was free from the pain for once, free from the stress of being in charge of so many people, free from the painful bind she'd caught herself in from that horrible lie, free from the hurt she had caused others that remained on them as it ricocheted on to her.

She felt nothing, saw nothing, and was nothing, just a hump of flesh on the dew-covered grass, as her beloved Toad was.

She had made the right decision, all she had done alive was lead her people into a pot hole and cause her loved ones stress.  Now that she was gone, they would find their freedom and surely guzzle it as if it ran from a spring

Sprawled out on the ground like a bear skinned rug, she appeared so peaceful, yet shocked and depressed, a little desperation lurked on her appearance too. It would certainly shock Mario to see her like this, but hopefully his heart wouldn't shatter into too many pieces.

The dagger, the deliverer of peace to thousands, the giver of death and the thieve of life, lied to the side, barely grazing her fingertip, she had dropped it after she fell when it dug in her wrist.

Her people would cry, their tears would sting their eyes and melt the apples of their cheeks, but soon they would learn that their ruler hadn't been the hero, the real hero was the dagger in all its glory as it swiped out a life that never belonged in the first place.

However, if she had had one more sentence, before she had let the weapon save her people, Peach would have taken Mario in her arms, shed a light tear on his shoulder, and after the final embrace she'd rip herself away and say, "I love you, and I'm sorry I ever had to be alive to make you suffer.  In loving you so much I am giving you the greatest gift imaginable- setting you free to live and be happy." Then she would have dug in deep, so deep the pain would have been unbearable, the cut would have turned a bold red color and her eyes would have rolled back in alarm.  She would have finally removed the thing that had constricted Mario all those years.

The whole surrounding area was silent, as if to mourn over the fair princess.  Tears seemed to roll from the petals of the flowers as they wilted over onto her delicate face. Birds stopped flying and landed on weak limbs of trees to sing little songs overtop of her.

It was over….

~

While separated from Luigi Daisy felt no need to contain her tears, she let them flow and she eagerly drew them from her eyes. It was too painful to watch this madness.  The Toadstool army was already defeating hers; the Sarasa's would be too weak to carry on.

They needed a good strategy among other things, and Daisy would have surrendered herself to the Toadstools before telling him this, but Luigi just didn't make a good soldier.  His only purpose for fighting was his love for her, and his anger at his brother, he was acting too foolish and quick to pull the trigger. He was a dangerous child.  But if Daisy told Luigi this, he'd not only be angry with her, he'd come to the ridiculous conclusion that he wasn't worth anything, and Mario had stolen the spotlight again.  All Daisy wanted was for him to forget the war, she just wanted to lie next to him, gaze in his eyes, and feel his body close to hers, knowing that they could forever remain that way.  She just loved him so much…. All she wanted was him to be near her. 

But now he wasn't her deeply blazing passion, he was her soldier, and now it was her duty to be his "angel of the battle field"

Daisy just didn't know when the tears would stop. All this depression and worry blended in with confusion was more than her heart could take. Not too long ago she was gushing about her newfound love; she had two friends that were now fighting brutally against her.

How she wanted that life back… 

~

Contrary to how his once close acquaintances felt, Mario couldn't be happier.  He had won the very first battle, done the king proud for sure, and he was certain Peach was beaming with pride.  He loved impressing her.  She was so beautiful that even when they had come this far, he still felt like he had to prove something to her.

The question was… where was she? Mario ran off on his own for a few moments to find Peach, he was so anxious to see her.

The general had told him that Peach had stopped by the battlefield earlier asking for him.  Apparently he had only missed her by a little bit, but nobody said anything about her taking a carriage ride anywhere, and the chancellor hadn't seen her since the troops had been sent out.

For a few minutes Mario's spirits were even higher.  "Maybe she wants to surprise me!" He thought happily. But while she wasn't there he had a chance to worry about something else.

Had he shot Luigi today? He still couldn't believe his baby brother was fighting against him, and the possibilities of his little twig buddy getting hit by one of his bullets was great.

Mario sighed, he really missed the Mario brothers, what a great team they made…

After one quick flashback to the day of his mother's death, Mario shrugged and started walking in another direction

Another chapter… finally, sorry if it sucks but I had to revive this story. Anyway, if things are a little weird and confusing now, give me a while before you flame me please.  I have this story all planned out and it will all work.  I promie.


	8. Too much to handle

*Another long interval between updates. sorry, but I wasn't feeling up to fic writing, and I wanted to make my update first rate, I've grown a lot over this summer too, so I'm thinking of editing some stuff. some parts feel a little rushed.. this is gonna be some pretty emotional stuff. so no laughing! (*  
  
Mario had been worrying More and More about Luigi, it seemed unbearable to imagine shooting his brother. and without Peach there to comfort him he was flustered and envisioning the worst.  
  
It was hard grappling with his emotions during such a time; usually he worked so well solo, but his life up to this point hadn't been easy to deal with. maybe what it all boiled down to was. he was only good at being the hero.  
  
As long as the public saw him in a good way and taking these little adventures didn't cost him any of the things he loved. it was hard not to trudge along happily.  
  
He was so confused he thought he was only imagining it when he heard a sniffle and the sound of a young women crying in the distance.  
  
When he identified the sobbing noises as Daisy, he assumed he was growing delusional with very step he took.  
  
However, even after he shook that idea off, oddly feeling more comfortable going back to feeling guilty. his sorrow, nor his footfall, could block out the crying.  
  
As he walked onward, it grew nearer, until eventually, he felt as if he were sitting right next to whoever was so broken up.  
  
That's when.. He saw it..  
  
It was daisy, curled up in a ball so tight you could have thrown her through a hoop and she would have bounced when she hit the ground.  
  
Mario stood still, looking very much like the typical soldier, he tried to be as quiet as possible and not startle her as he watched her wipe her eyes on the hem of her dress and continue to whimper and moan.  
  
He didn't know what to say. he had a feeling she was sobbing over something he had done. and he felt nerves pile up within when he realized that perhaps he had been right about murdering his little brother.  
  
HE turned around, and thought maybe he had a chance of escaping silently, yet quickly, when at last Daisy spoke, in a brisk and chilling voice.  
  
"I know that's you standing there, Mario, Mario!"  
  
Mario turned back around and took a step toward her. He merely rested his feet in the ground and remained in the same position without uttering a word.  
  
"Since WHEN did I deserve this?" she cried, her voice growing hoarse.  
  
Mario gulped what had to have been the biggest lump anybody ever got in their throat. If there were ever a time that he wished he could vanish. this was it.  
  
"I've been living in HELL. Damn this war! I already lost you both, why did she have to make it official!"  
  
Mario furrowed his brow. What did she mean by that?  
  
"excuse me?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.  
  
"Don't play dumb with me.. This whole time I've had a hole in my heart. wishing somebody would just surrender the entire war all together! You don't know how much I've missed you two.. And now she'll never know."  
  
"What are you saying Daisy?" Mario asked, feeling a bit more on edge.  
  
Daisy got up, brushing herself off slightly and started to walk off. Before she left however, she made one final statement.. "take the spot I was sitting at.. You'll see."  
  
The tone in her voice was harsh, and Mario felt as if he was in a horror movie as soon as she let the words spill off her tongue.  
  
He walked closer.. And closer. afraid the ground would sink from underneath of him the further he moved, and then he caught a glimpse of...  
  
Peach?  
  
He froze. there she was.. Just lying there looking as peaceful as if she were napping underneath the shade of a tree.  
  
He closed his eyes, the veins bulging in his neck. "she's just napping... it's okay." he muttered as he tried to calm the rapid rushes of air moving in and out of his lungs.  
  
HE opened his eyes once more. almost convinced that she really was sleeping.. Until he saw Toad's dagger.  
  
Blood..all over her dress..  
  
He could only think in fragments.. Dagger...blood...why?  
  
He knelt down and held Peach in his arms, cradling her as if she were an infant.  
  
"Please. don't be gone." He chanted over and over, closing his eyes and laying his head against hers.  
  
"It would have been okay. it still can be okay. there's still a spirit in there. right?"  
  
The lifeless body of his love spoke no words, and kept her eyelids tightly shut over her beautiful cobalt eyes. her flesh cold and prickling every hair on Mario's body.  
  
"Please. just open your eyes... please..." he said once more, stroking her hair and kissing her cheeks as if it would do any good.  
  
He heard no melodious ring of that gentle voice he loved tickling his ears. he felt no eye lashes sliding up his cheek to kiss him.. He felt no Peach within that body.  
  
He closed his eyes tightly. "No tears.. Please.. No tears.. Hold yourself together."  
  
His pep talk did no good.. Once he took the princess's tiny, delicate little hand, slid the satin white glove off of it, and laced his fingers with hers. the clear liquid within his eyes poked out and dripped down his face.  
  
Never had any moment in his life been so heart shattering, never had he wished for death more than that moment.  
  
First it was just another tear, out of the other eye, than a couple more swooped down to attack what was left of the dry skin on his face.. Then eventually he caught himself sobbing, wailing so loud people miles away could probably hear.  
  
"Why Peach, Why?" he said in as still a voice he could manage. "I. I.. I still love you."  
  
he took a moment to pull her closer and embrace her, feeling as if she were actually there, listening to every word.  
  
"It hurts more than an attack in battle. how can my heart take being madly in love with someone I'll never see again? I'll never kiss you again, never see your eyes lit up when you feel secure and happy, your voice will never caress my ears."  
  
He broke down into more rapid sobbing, clutching the princess tighter still. He couldn't bear to let her go. it was as if the second he dropped her back onto the earth. she would deteriorate.  
  
He couldn't live without the scent of her perfume, the glance of her innocent face.  
  
Once he let her go, she would be buried, into the cold ground. A dark, mysterious place unworthy of her beauty! After that. he would no longer look upon her.  
  
Each glance he took from her made his heart beat even faster than the last, and now as he imagined never again feeling that scuttle within, he lost all composure.  
  
He lie his head down on her chest and cried even harder than he had moments before. even harder than when he had lost his mother...  
  
He lied peach down on the ground and lied down next to her, his arms around her, lying his head on her shoulder and letting the tears fall.  
  
"Everyone I love I lose.. everyone I care about is RIPPED FROM ME!!! Why can't I find happiness and let it just last! I've got a lot of living left to do, and already I've turned my brother against me, lost my true love to suicide. and witnessed my mother grasping her final breath before I was old enough to even handle it.why me? WHY ME! TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S TRUE LOVE, FIND ANOTHER SET OF BROTHERS TO KILL EACHOTHER. TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S SOCCER MOM!!!!!!!!!"  
  
He removed himself from peach and huddled over in a corner, screaming and crying, venting all this concealed anger.  
  
"IF LOVE IS SO IMPORTANT... WHY IS FATE DECIDING TO KEEP ME FROM EXPERIENCING IT!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around to see Daisy standing there. teary eyed.  
  
"I heard everything you said." She replied.  
  
"What good does it do?" Mario asked.  
  
"It changed my opinion about you." Daisy said with a smile. "you loved Peach so much, and I know her. she must have had a reason for needing to escape."  
  
"SO SUICIDE IS RIGHT?"  
  
Daisy looked down. "No, but look what all this nonsense has done."  
  
Mario sniffled and scrunched Peach's glove up in his hand. He then pocketed the little cloth and looked Daisy in the eye. "The best thing that ever happened to me is gone. I can't cope.. I need my brother back!"  
  
~  
  
*okay. really teary and wishy washy.. I know. r+r and maybe next update won't be so far away ;)!* 


	9. The truth comes out

**Not tooo much happens in this chap… but it is important, don't hurt me!!**

**Peach fans, don't be mad at what I did, I like peach, she's my fave, and Daisy says some VERY nice things about her in this chappie.**

**You finally find out why peach committed suicide and what this gosh darn war is about!… and other stuff happens…. So read it!**

Mario could barely hold back another outburst of tears as he walked back to the mushroom kingdom with Daisy at his side.  He still kept thinking he would see Peach going for a walk around the castle grounds with her little parasol swaying in the wind.

It was just impossible to accept the fact that things were… over.

No…. not again… he blinked back another rush of liquid in his eyes…. he was not going to mush this up again….

"Why… why would she…. I don't understand?" he mumbled.  The painful image of her with the golden dagger still lingered in his mind.

"I can only think of one reason… and I really can't bear to let you know about it."

Mario frowned.  "What do you mean? Peach never hurt anybody!" he replied sounding slightly offended.

"I know! But before you attack me could you just let me tell you ONE thing?" Daisy cried, holding her forehead in her hand to soothe the unbearable headache she had developed.

Mario put his hand on her arm Motioning for her to stop and the two found a spot underneath of a weeping willow tree- well suited for the occasion.

"Did peach ever tell you how this war even began?"

"Yes, you Sarasa's wanted access to the pipe so you could conquer the human world. MY world!"

"That's not it at all!" Daisy cried crinkling up her forehead.

Mario felt something heavy drop on top of his heart… Peach had lied to him?  This whole time he had been fighting and he had no clue why?

"Peach was wonderful, she was polite, and loving, and giving, and probably the most beautiful girl alive, but even someone so perfect… is made with a couple of flaws…"

"Peach has suffered a lot for her kingdom, she's been kidnapped almost constantly, and still expected to keep watch over her people without anybody giving any regard to her mental or physical health.  She's been talked about endlessly for her weaknesses… how she can't defend herself, how she's so fragile…. And nobody realizes how that builds up over time…. People didn't care to point out what made her strong and valuable to her country.  That she could keep going no matter what life threw at her, that she could take a day melted in sorrows and build it back up with her cheery outlook on everything, that she was well organized, and was an offensive arts master."

Mario blinked in confusion.  "So people talk! I was raised in a poor family, my mother died when I was too young to cope, and people constantly talked about how Peach was so beautiful, and how silly she was to give her heart to me! That's not exactly showering me with love and affection either!" he didn't mean to let the words spill in such a harsh way, but he had been under a lot of stress lately, and Peach's suicide pretty much did him in.

Daisy gave him a hurt look.  "Mario, you know how shallow you sound? A few remarks on outer appearance don't even begin to cover the ridicule Peach has suffered!  Before she was 2 she had been captured by at least a dozen villains, and the Toadstool army was so weak they could do no more than poke the enemy!  It's always been up to Peach to find her own way out of trouble and retrieve the peace her people deserved… But bowser was far too strong.  He could brain wash anybody into becoming his follower and he held Peach captive for months until you and Luigi found yourselves here and did the noble thing!"

"SO what does any of this have to do with the war and her suicide?" Mario asked contemplatively.

"I'm getting to that! Don't rush me!" Daisy began.  "Now where was I… ahhh yes! Well, You never knew about it, but some of the other lords and allies of the mushroom kingdom have been saying Peach doesn't… cut the mustard, if you will.  That she didn't even make an effort to prevent her kingdom from being taken by enemies…so, something came over her.. she cared TOO much about her kingdom or something, and suddenly she wanted the kingdom to be larger, and the country to be stronger.. but there was only one possible way to do so…."

Mario saw where this was going, and he finished Daisy's sentence for her… "To defeat you guys in a war…"

"exactly."

"But, why all this deceit?"

"She was probably scared, she had lost the trust of many of her most beloved supporters, she didn't want to lose you too, and she knew that if Luigi had to pick which side to go with, It'd be mine."

Mario played with the slop-like mud on the ground. He felt too sheepish to look Daisy in the eye.  He didn't blame Peach one bit.  The only person he blamed was himself, for not being there for her, for just whisking her out of enemy clutches and not even providing her with a shoulder to cry on.

She didn't even think she could have come to him for moral support when she wanted to extend her country!

His eyes were filled with tears, awful tears that refused to roll out onto his face, they just stung and blurred his vision.  "Daisy, I think this is all my fault…. If I had been More than just a hero, she could have told the truth, instead of having to turn to death…"

"Mario-" daisy began, sounding as consoling as she could.

"No! It is my fault!  I've claimed to be her significant other but all I've done is advance my social status.  I was just an egotistical super hero, who claimed to actually care about her!"

"Mario please!"

"No Daisy, don't try to help me!  I'm running away from this war and taking that pipe back home…. I don't have anything to stay here for!"

"I can think of one." Daisy said, tears beginning to stream down her own cheeks.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You're little brother!  You need each other! You don't think if you leave he won't miss you?"

"He doesn't need me! He's going to win this war, you Sarasa's will have more land than you'll ever be able to use, and I'll be back unclogging toilets in Brooklyn, praying Pauline hasn't found another boyfriend!"

"Mario, stop talking like this!"

"I can't daisy! I can't! I…." He really didn't want her to see him like this.  "I don't know what I've got left to live for, I've lost the greatest love I've ever known, and I'm just trying to find the easiest way to sneak out of the pain…."

Daisy took Mario and wrapped him in a friendly hug.  "Mario, your brother needs you, please stay…. I promise I can find away for you both to get out of this war together!"

Mario scowled.  "but you can't find a way to make Peach come back… can you?"

BANG!

Mario whirled around at the sound of a gunshot.  It was the toadstool army; they had been hidden in the brush the whole time.  Just waiting for the right moment. "DAISY, DUCK!" Mario cried, pushing her down just as the soldiers shot another bullet.

The bullet passed them both safely, and they both jumped back onto their feet as fast as they could.  "Run Daisy…. Take your shoes off, and RUN!" Mario cried.

The two raced through the thick, deep green forest, not even stopping to care about the branches and twigs cutting into them as they came in contact with their skin at rapid speed.

Mario was a significant distance ahead of Daisy, as her delicate, bare feet, and her long dress didn't make for easy fleeing.

"Come on, I think there's a spot where we can hide!" Mario cried as he tried to slow down for Daisy.

"I'm.. tryin-" Instantly Daisy lost her balance when her foot landed in a gopher hole.  She landed face down in the moist earth.

"Daisy!" Mario cried.  He was just about to run back over to her and peel her off the ground when he heard another shot being made and doing the only thing he could, thumped himself onto the ground and buried his head in his hands.

He could see Daisy struggling to get out of the hole, tripping and screaming.

"Daisy, I'm coming!" Mario cried, but he was too late, just as she wiggled herself free and landed with her feet on the ground… the toadstools fired again.

"Daisy?" he said meekly, hoping the bullet hadn't hit her.  

She very slowly collapsed and landed with a thud, there was blood dribbling from her forehead in a straight line.

Mario stood right before the Toadstool soldiers, his blood racing, they just seemed to stare at him, looking through him… analyzing his thoughts.

He was a traitor; they had seen him helping Daisy escape from Toadstool territory….

He did the only thing he could do, in the best attempt he ever made to seamlessly join the two actions together, He picked Daisy up in his arms and darted off.

It was hard to run while carrying Daisy at the same time, his legs were sore, and his heart was racing.  But the sweat that leaked from every pore, and every beat his weary heart made, only helped him move faster and faster.

"You're still alive, you're still alive…" He chanted over and over.

Daisy wouldn't die… he wouldn't let her die… she was his friend and his brother's girl friend….He wouldn't let one more life slide away in front of his eyes

~**~

I've been having lots of ideas for this story, so expect a lot of updates on it! I may even finish it soon! (its about time!)


	10. Safe at last

Mario just wanted to collapse and feel the soft earth cradle him to sleep.  His heart and his body had never ached so much at the same time before.  The soldiers were gaining speed, and they were no longer a very safe distance away from him.

"Oh Daisy" he said, feeling as if somebody had dropped the heaviest weight in the world on his shoulders. "I have just about lost it! Why were you even going to walk that close to the mushroom kingdom with me… you knew you'd be caught! You should have left while you had the chance!"

"You can't run forever, Traitor!" The soldiers shouted, their voices shaking with rage.

Mario just thanked God he had cut through the forest instead of running past the deceased body of Peach, he would have been assumed her killer, which wouldn't exactly charm his fellow combatants, and a Toadstool charged with anger can do just about anything they set their mind to.

"Why is all of this happening? WHY?" He cried, which made it all the more easier for the toadstool fighters to track him down.

He didn't expect that his fragment of a temper tantrum would draw him to someone ELSE'S attention.

"pssssst!" he heard someone whisper.

"Who is that?" he asked, coming to a halt.

"Over here!"

Mario craned his neck to look in the direction the voice seemed to be projecting from, but all he saw was the brush.

"Don't be a fool, they are chasing you you know!"

"Maybe if you'd let me see you!" Mario replied, feeling a bit annoyed.

"I'm standing right in front of you!" the voice cried.

"WHERE?"

"Look down!"

Mario muttered an obscenity under his breath, then looked down at his shoes…

"FROG? What the hell are you doing out here?" he cried, almost dropping Daisy.

"People were worried having not seen you since the battle, I went out to look for you, and that's when I saw Peach, I tried to find you and warn you that soldiers were on the look out but-"

"Frog, this all seems pretty shady to me, I for one don't buy the fact that you're out here waiting for me to fall out of the sky!"

"Don't be so foolhardy and arrogant, are you going to get yourself exiled, or hung and let that girl die, or are you going to let me help you?"

Mario looked off into the horizon, he hadn't realized that he had neglected to sleep at all after the battle, and it had already been morning for quite some time.

And for God's sake Daisy was getting heavy!

"Alright frog, but what can you do about a bullet wound?"

Frog grinned slightly and motioned for Mario to follow him.  Mario DID feel pretty foolish following someone even shorter than himself through the woods, while carrying the other Army's wounded princess in his arms… the whole scenario was too wacky to be real… maybe that was a sign that this all was a horribly vivid nightmare and he'd wake up drenched in sweat any moment now.

Not a chance.

"Frog, can you please move faster, these are skilled masters of offensive and defensive arts!" Mario whined. 

"You think I got job of retainer just because I'm Toad's sibling?" frog asked haughtily.

"in a nutshell, yes." Mario replied.

Frog frowned at him.  "I do have SOME skills, they don't just pick anybody to be a retainer!" he cried waving his stubby arms in the air.

"Sorry Frog, but I never thought handing someone a drink and fluffing their pillow occasionally took much skill."

"That's not ALL I do Mario!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot opening the door and acting incredibly perky."

"Do you want help or not?"

Mario nodded his head wearily.

"Good, now as I was saying, retainers do have to know some things, such as using castle power wisely, observe!"  With that, frog took a small, silver coin out of his pocket and held it up to the sky. A ray of blinding light that gave Mario an even more intense headache emerged.

"Alright, besides causing me even more pain, what did that really do?" Mario asked.

"You see Mario, though Peach is the only one trusted with the power that guards the castle, retainers are given special coins with powers to defend themselves and the kingdom.  The ray of light I shot from my coin kind of, knocks out anybody tracking me, or someone of my party. It IS temporary though so we certainly have no time to dilly dally!"

The threesome (or the two using their feet that is) scurried through the forest until they made it to a quaint cabin, very well hidden.

"How did you find this?" Mario asked.

"I built it, all by myself!"

Mario grimaced.  "Frog, nobody can build a cabin in the middle of the woods within a few minutes of looking for somebody!

"Mario, Mario, Mario, how foolish.  I did arrive at the kingdom when war was declared, I'm no fool, desperate times call for desperate measures, so for the entire time I've been at the kingdom, aside from my servitude, I've been building myself a safe haven if worse comes to worse at the kingdom."

"Clever…" Mario said, still not totally convinced.

"Come on inside" Frog replied, running up to the door and opening it for Mario.

The cabin was a bit small, even Mario had to stoop over a bit to avoid hitting his head on the door way, but once in side the ceiling was much higher than it appeared…. And the interior was stocked with all the food, water, blankets, and medical supplies anybody in a war would need.

"Set Daisy down on this nice, comfy bed, and you can rest on this cot for a little while" Frog replied.

Mario didn't like the idea of napping on a cot, but he was so haggard and emotionally impaired that anything felt like an expensive, quality mattress.  Immediately he found himself losing consciousness… and falling into a deep, pleasurable sleep….

"Mario………Mama's not here…" 

_"Luigi, I told you before…. Mama can never come back…I'm looking out for you now!"_

_"I know that… but……she's not here……and, there's a monster under my bed!"_

_"Luigi, sometimes ya gotta learn to fight the monsters!"_

_"How?"_

_"Ya gotsta let them now they don't scare ya, that's how!"_

_"But… they do scare me!"_

_"than you gotsta take desperate measures, get a weapon and get rid of that pesky monster!"_

_(leaves and comes back with a  vaccum cleaner)_

_"What do I do?"_

_"Press that red button and this machine will suck all the ghosts away!"_

_(Luigi wearily presses the button and takes hold of the vaccum)_

_"WOW! I can feel the ghosties flyin through the machine!"_

_"And they can NEVER escape either!"_

_"cool!"_

_"Some day, Luigi, you'll be brave enough to tackle thousands of Ghosties with just one machine! I know it!"_

Suddenly Mario awoke.  He had this awful pain in his neck, like he had slept in the complete wrong position…

That dream…. Ugh… he remembered that night…. And how great it was to give Luigi something to believe in.

And years later when he had to fight real ghosts by himself….. he was still brave enough, even if it was no longer make believe.

What was going to happen to he and Luigi after he and daisy left the cabin? His mind had been endlessly haunted with childhood visions ever since the war began and tore the two most inseparable people a part.

I guess it was just a rude awakening…. Anything really IS possible.

"Mario….." a weak, quavering voice said.

"Mario looked over to the adjacent bed and saw Daisy sitting up, neatly bandaged, and far from dead.

"How did Frog do it? You're alive! This is incredible! What a relief!" Mario cried, leaping off of the cot and forgetting the crick in his neck.

"Where are we?" Daisy asked.

"Oh, We're in Frog's cabin in the woods, he saved you!"

"who's frog?" Daisy asked.

Mario frowned, he had forgotten Daisy hadn't been in touch with Peach, and knew nothing about the replacement head retainer.

"Peach's new retainer."

Daisy just moaned and rubbed her eyes.  "What is that beating my head?" she asked airily.

"You must be in a lot of pain."

"That's just from the gunshot?" she asked, quite depressed.

"I'm afraid so."

"Make it stop…." She sobbed, lying back down on the bed.

"As soon as Frog gets back here, he'll probably give you some medicine or something."

"You mean this person I don't even know has been fixing me up and giving me medicine? Eeep!" Daisy squealed.

"Frog was just trying to help, how ungrateful can you be?"

"I'm sorry but I see nothing helpful about a complete stranger operating on me when I'm blissfully unaware."

"If it hadn't been for him you'd be ETERNALLY blissfully unaware!" Mario cried.

"Yea.. sure" Daisy muttered. "By the way, where is that Frog guy anyway?

**I think this is one of my longest chapters. Anyway, kinda boring I guess, but the story goes up hill from here. I know with peach gone and all it may seem like the story is coming to an end, but there's only been one battle.  The rest of the story focuses way more on the war! R+R**


	11. Special delivery

This chapter is also not too action packed, but I have to get the ball rolling, this time I PROMISE next chapter will have a lot more going on! Don't get me wrong.. THIS is still worth reading!  
  
.:*:.  
  
Suddenly Mario didn't feel so trusting of his little savior anymore. The fact had just now broken through his thick skull that Peach had NEVER mentioned anything about the war. Frog was the one who had told him all that bull shit about the warp pipe!  
  
Daisy gave Mario a wondering look and he could tell a feeling of worry overshadowed all else. "Where do you suppose he's gone?" she asked.  
  
Mario could only shrug, as he stood by the door praying Frog would just return.  
  
.:*:.  
  
Luigi stood out in the middle of the open field with his arms folded, gazing triumphantly ahead. He and the other troops had a brilliant plan to toss on the oblivious toadstools.  
  
As soon as the spy returned, he'd put the plan into action, murder Peach and capture the Mushroom kingdom power needed to add the finishing touches to their current project.. the most fatal bob-omb imaginable. Once the broach of Peach's was there's, they'd just have to fuel their bob-omb with the power, and it'd be ready to be set off.  
  
Why those fools with their spotted heads hadn't concocted such weaponry when the needed ingredients were within their grasp was beyond him.  
  
He would have ridded the world of that little blonde tic sooner, the eagerness to do so was numbing what little patience he had, but smearing out royalty is risky business. Only he and the toadstools' benedict Arnold would know of his assassination.  
  
Just when he was about to hop a warp pipe to the mushroom kingdom and grapple with that flaxen haired broad out in the open, he heard someone treading behind him through the unkempt prairie grass, and just like clockwork, it was his cloaked emissary.  
  
"You must be clairvoyant or something, just about every time I think about you, you show up behind me!" Luigi sneered.  
  
The petite man underneath the dark cloak only grunted. He stood there in silence for a moment, and just as Luigi opened his mouth to speak, he said, "Forget the plan."  
  
Luigi practically choked on his next words. "WHAT? We need to make a come back!" he cried.  
  
"Foolish boy, you have no listening skills"  
  
"well, go on then, but I wish you'd make it to your point rather than stringing me a long and watching me suffer!"  
  
"The princess is already dead.I have managed to bring this back for you" after that statement he dropped a glistening, cerulean broach into Luigi's hands.  
  
The plumber just kind of gazed at it, his mouth open and his mind dancing off in another dimension.  
  
"You do good work, and I don't understand how you can slide by so easily without being noticed. I've run low on gold, but I can offer you this." Luigi then handed him a fire flower, they had been near to impossible to find around the mushroom kingdom lately.  
  
The shrouded double agent merely bowed as he slid the flower into his pocket and gruffly replied "good day to you."  
  
Luigi practically soared to the general's tent. Thanks to his new pal, he would become a hero in the eyes of the sarasa's especially Daisy.  
  
His head was too full of thoughts of his own glory to let the topic of Peach's death remain for very long. At the moment, as he was entranced by the ease he detained the broach, and all that reflected in his pupils was the burnished, blue stone.  
  
In his hands he held the power that kept the kingdom thriving when it was on the brink of destruction, that when used properly could conjure any potion, create any spell, and kill anyone instantly.  
  
As he planted his feet onto the ground within the moth eaten tent, his smile so large it touched his eyes, the only thing he could do was cry "I've got it!"  
  
The general looked up at him with a frown of confusion, but once he saw the sapphire broach, he too could not conceal his beam.  
  
He was too flustered to even think straight. "How. but.. But how did you.."  
  
Luigi had now gained enough confidence in himself to be quite a smooth talker. "Just one of the tricks of the trade, sir."  
  
"There's something rather conspicuous about all of this, but I'm not one to interrogate. You have our most profound appreciation, I just wish we could offer you more than a humble 'thank you'"  
  
The general seemed to be making a nice little collection of fingerprints on Luigi's precious treasure, as he gripped onto it firmly, held it to his chest and walked off with a conniving smirk on his face.  
  
Luigi was tempted to follow him, he wanted to find out just what kind of assembly line was putting together this little toy, and how or even better, WHERE they were going about it, but the most important thing was that the new bob-omb was being created. So with one last smile of pleasure, he plodded out of the tent. In only a matter of time Sarasaland, and the mushroom kingdom would belong to the Sarasa's and if the bob-omb did its job, this would probably be one of the shortest-lived wars in history.  
.:*:.  
  
AT that moment Frog scuttled back into the cabin, viciously slamming the door behind himself.  
  
"Oh no. its over. we're done for, throw in the towel." he sobbed, flinging himself onto the cot.  
  
"I've got some pretty good questions for you, little man!" Mario replied with a cynically ring.  
  
"No time for questions, we have to go to the king. must warn him. oh no, Lord no!"  
  
Daisy skipped over to the cot and knelt down beside Frog. "Please calm down! What is the matter?"  
  
Frog gave Daisy a very disconcerting glare and turned his head away from her. "Get out! Get out of my cabin! Your veins bulge with the filthy blood of a sarasa! GET! You hear me? LEAVE!"  
  
Daisy leapt away from the cot. "Why does it matter if I'm a Sarasa, I'd never harm you." She said with fury.  
  
"All dirty Sarasa's are the same. Jealous of the toadstool empire, and about as smart as the logs on this cabin."  
  
Daisy stared defiantly at Frog. "I'm not like that! And neither is my father, or any Sarasa for that matter!"  
  
Frog raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
"Frog! Stop verbally attacking someone you don't even know and tell me what's wrong!"  
  
Frog sat up on the cot and shot Mario a look of antagonism. "We've lost, we have no chance Mario, and one of THEM took advantage of Peach's death and stole her broach! It had every bit of castle power in it! We're done! OVER!"  
  
Mario looked down and said "How do you know it was a Sarasa, I mean, those persistent Toadstool troops could have easily come across her body and retrieved the gem before It'd get stolen."  
  
"Of course that's what happened!" Daisy said, still looking hurt. "Your midget friend is just prejudice and thinks my name has something to do with my feelings for people in general!"  
  
"Look, princess, You're supposed to be the royal to the rival army, and once something valuable to our side ends up missing, I don't expect any sympathy, or help from you!" Frog said angrily.  
  
"Once again, Frog, how do you know it was stolen?" Mario asked sounding irritated.  
  
"Think about it! If a Toadstool had come across her, don't you think the body would be gone and moved to a more respective burial place?" Frog cried.  
  
"That brings me to another question Frog, where have you been this whole time?"  
  
Frog stuttered slightly, "I was. off.. Seeing if the princess's body was still there. and if the soldiers had cleared yet!"  
  
Mario frowned. "You're lying, all over again! Just like you lied to me about the war!"  
  
Frog grimaced. "Mario, I'm sincerely sorry, but Peach had made me swear I'd stick to that story, you should have seen how broken up and afraid she- "  
  
"I don't care, FROG! If I had known what was wrong. Peach would be alive now!"  
  
"You think that doesn't bother me? I didn't even get a chance to know her!"  
  
"Fess up Frog! You never cared about anyone, you were just getting paid, and to keep the thankless job you had you hid the truth, no matter what that would do to your master in the end!"  
  
Frog eyed Mario with a solemn expression. "So you thank me for helping you by tossing all my past mistakes in my face? You really are an honorable and generous person..."  
  
.:*:.  
  
Luigi had been pacing back and forth expectantly for what felt like forever when the general walked back up to him again. "Luigi, our little experiment has gone well, and our bob omb is finally finished. I need you to take a pipe to the mushroom kingdom so you can enter, and plant it there, the bob omb will do damage miles away from its location, but I want the most damage done within the castle."  
  
Luigi nodded his head and took the brown bag in the General's hand from him.  
  
"Do not open the bag until you set the bob omb down. After you remove the bob omb from its packaging, press the red button, and get back inside the warp pipe as soon as you can." The general finished.  
  
"Yes sir." Luigi replied. There was one warp pipe he could think of that would lead him right to the courtyard of the kingdom, from there he could sneak in perfectly, as long as he could find an invisibility cap. 


	12. The Sarasa's strike back

**long time no update huh? This story is getting close to its final chapters, tear tear.  Stuff is getting a little more intense now, so you are not allowed to kill me or throw things at me for whatever I choose to do! So there! La la la! I am just an innocent lil fic writer!**

.:*:.

It was the worst pain anyone had ever felt, it was like your lung being ripped away yet you were still on the ground gasping for breath.

And at the same time it was like a drug, seething inside and making it easier to fall down and rest, accept your demise, and embrace the feeling of the solid, cold, earth on your body.

The flashing red and orange was blinding, and came in rapid successions. It would have given you a massive head ache, but your head had no time to feel pain, what with every other body part suffering.

You felt your brain numbing, your palms sweating, and your feet and legs losing the ability to carry you.

And then just when you thought you could crawl a little longer, take another baby step forward, or grip onto someone for support………….

There was black.  And the last thing you had known………… was pain.

Thousands of innocent toadstools knew just that, as they were brought to their knees by the attack of the Sarasa's extremely lethal bob-omb.

So many soldiers now lie in the hospital wing, with the chancellor among them.  Common people and members of the royal family were scattered in a lifeless manner. 

The bob-omb had done just what it had intended, wiped out almost an entire realm and then some, and the tragedy that had just occurred, was only the beginning.  Just now things were beginning to heat up and take a turn for the worse, especially when the sarasa's made their one major mistake.

Just before the bob omb had gone off Frog had talked Daisy and Mario into going on a bit of a journey with him.  "We have to find out who stole Peach's broach!" He cried going frantic. 

"It's just a gaudy piece of jewelry! Let it go!" Mario cried.

"You don't understand, Mario! The Sarasa's could do something dangerous if they get their hands on that gem! We have to find it and retrieve it."

Mario frowned.  "It will do no good to just FIND it.  How are WE supposed to protect ourselves from the opposition and guard this oh-so powerful gem?"

"I'm not an idiot Mario! We will return it to the king or the chancellor of course!"

"Oh, and then what Frog? Shall we say 'ya, umm, we found your princess's dead body and we've been hiding from your soldiers with the enemy this entire time in a little cabin'? ya! Brilliant!"

Daisy looked at Mario feeling hurt.  So she was even just the enemy to HIM now too.  This suddenly painted a much clearer picture of things.

"Mario, there's going to be another battle sooner or later, you can't hide out forever." Frog said sounding exasperated.

"Well, suicide seemed to work for Peach so-" Mario stopped in silence and looked forward, "do you see that?" he asked.

"What?" frog replied.

"That lumpy thing in the bushes." Mario said with a slightly lighter voice.

Frog and Mario stepped towards the bush when suddenly what could now be seen as a man in a cloak tried to scamper off in desperation.

"COME BACK HERE!" Frog cried, yanking him back by his cloak before he could get even a foot out of the way.

"get off me!" the man cried trying to wiggle himself free.

Mario recognized that voice. He angrily whipped the cloak off of the man's body.  Once he saw who it really was, he could only stand there, mouth open.

"TOAD?" he cried taking a few steps back. "I… I can't… but…but how?"

Toad just snickered a little.  "Simple, Mario, I faked my own death."

Frog looked a bit teary eyed.  It was obvious how disappointed he was in his older brother.  "But, why? Why would you do such a thing, Toad?"

Toad snickered once more.  "Because that sappy excuse for a princess had run her country into the ground, if I faked my own death, I'd sneak that naïve moron Luigi some information, the princess would be dead, and I would lead that boy to success.  The mushroom kingdom would be nothing but a memory."

Toad stood there, beaming in spite of himself, when suddenly….

He felt a hard punch to the jaw and Mario plopped himself down on top of the traitor, strangling and beating him. "NEVER call Peach a sap, or Luigi Naïve… ever!!!!" He shrieked thrashing Toad to let out his bottled rage.

Toad Pushed Mario off of him, displaying a lot of defensive skill for someone of his size.  "You can't order me around! The sarasa's are in control now.  You won't be living for much longer." Toad said adding a cackle to finish his statement off.

"all you are is a filthy traitor! If I slipped you a few coins right now you'd tell me everything I need to know, than it'd reciprocate to the sarasa's, and so on! You'll never be loyal to anyone!" Mario spat.

"No, you have it completely wrong." Toad sniggered.  "The sarasa's know what they're doing, and I've learned a few things." He then took out a gun and forced Frog and Mario to the ground.  "Now that I've let you in on my dirty little secret, you'll be taking it with you to hell."

Mario couldn't take this; he wouldn't allow himself to be shot by an old friend.  The Toadstool's wouldn't be let down. 

With nothing but pure rage backing him up and fueling him, he wrestled Toad down to the ground and pulled the gun out of his grasp. "Looks Like I'M in charge now!"

Toad stuttered.  "Llll-ook.  Lets not do anything crazy!"

"The rules are simple.  You tell us where Peach's broach is, and the Toadstool's take you a part, as opposed to me." Mario said viciously.

Toad's eyes widened.  "There is no broach."

"WHAT?" Mario cried feeling a bloodthirsty instinct and cocking the gun as he rested his foot on Toad's stomach.

"At least not anymore! It's been used!"

"For what?"

"For-for…. For a bomb that Luigi is planting in the mushroom kingdom!"

Mario and Frog looked at each other in fright. 

"We have to warn the chancellor!" frog cried.

"there isn't enough time! It should be going off within a matter of minutes!" Toad declared.

"Than how the hell do WE keep ourselves safe?" Mario asked.

Toad looked off in the distance innocently.

Mario stepped down harder on Toad's stomach.  "I SAID How do WE keep ourselves safe?"

Gasping for breath Toad said, "Take…. These…. And put them on now…… but remember…… they…. Only last…….. a little while………"

Frog and Mario took the two caps Toad held in his hands, which were metal caps, they both were about to put them on when suddenly they realized they hadn't seen Daisy in a little while.

"Daisy?" Mario cried.  "DAISY!!!"

He accidentally released Toad as he and Frog started pacing and screaming Daisy's name hoarsely.

Toad grasped that instance for his escape and quickly tossed on a wing cap, doing 3 flips in the air before taking off and soaring gracefully through the sky.

"How could you be so freaking thick? How could you not notice she was gone?" Mario yelled thumping Frog on the chest.

"you didn't exactly let me know she had evacuated either, PAL!" Frog bellowed giving Mario a push.

Mario whirled around and saw nothing behind him but an empty cloak.

"Now Toad has escaped!" He shouted whirling his arms in the air and stomping his feet.

"Come on! Hurry up and put this metal cap on, we've got no time to save Daisy, hopefully she made it back to Sarasaland."

So the two put on their metal caps and dashed towards Frog's cabin, just as the bob-omb's power was unleashed.

The two lost their balance and fell to the ground, remaining there as they waited for this to end, praying that the metal caps didn't wear off.

.:*:.

Luigi was practically hyperventilating.  He had barely made it back through the warp pipe before the bob omb had gone off, and his gangly build didn't make maneuvering his way out of danger any easier.

But now he was back in the safety of one of the remaining Sarasaland castles, wishing he could only have seen the havoc that marvelous bob omb was reeking. 

It was supposed to be his moment to soak in the glory, the moment that is brave endeavor would win him gloating rights.

That's when he saw his little spy dropping from the sky and taking a rough tumble to the ground.  He wasn't wearing his cloak, which was rather unsettling.  Toad never walked about the Mushroom lands with his cloak off.

Luigi ran over to the small man as he was dusting himself off. "Toad, what are you doing?" he asked

"I'm sorry, please forgive me! Please forgive me sir!" Toad cried practically groping Luigi's shins.

"What have you done?"

Toad's eyes practically explained the whole thing.  You could tell that his heart was hammering fast enough to punch a hole through his chest.

"I…. I…. Got found out!" he weeped curling up in a ball by Luigi's feet.

"YOU WHAT?"

"by…. Mario!"

"This is fine! This is just GREAT Toad! Now what are we going to do? The Toadstool's will be searching high and low, if you even try to apologize to them you'll be blown to pieces before you're within 100 feet!"

Toad looked up at Luigi and replied, "So what's the plan?"

Luigi looked appalled.  "What's the plan? You're asking ME? Why don't you do the thinking for a change?"

"I've had all the hard work! Did you honestly think that this would go on forever!"

"You were supposed to be more careful!"

"You're selfish Luigi! You thought that if I did your dirty work you'd earn the glory. I risked getting killed so you'd look like a hero!!"

"Don't blame me! You didn't seem to mind it when I was paying you!"

Toad just glared at his partner.  Not a single word could summarize how he felt.

"You're more trouble than you're worth Toad! And when it's between you, or the Sarasa's I think I know the smarter choice."

And that was Toad's last moment alive.  Luigi killed him. Let his blood drip from his fingers and the horrified expression on the face of his rotting corpse captured the horrid life of fear he had to live.  His deceit had finally caught up with him…….

**Ha ha ha ha ha! Flames all around! At least I'll be all nice and warm! He he he he. R+ r!**


	13. Strange friendships

***Woooo I'm back! Don't hurt me! I've been far too LAZYYYYY to update!***

***Sticks her tongue out***

*** he he, just kidding… of course…. –nervous laughter- anyway, finally updating is the point, you should catch on to the idea that the Mushroom Kingdom is a realm of different castles if you follow the original Super Mario bros. Game way of thinking. (picture that old school map in your head) ***

Daisy lay in a mushroom kingdom hospital bed.  As soon as Mario and Frog had found her after the bob omb exploded, they could no longer take this life of hiding out. They returned to the mushroom kingdom with Daisy and begged for her to be taken in.

Nobody was exactly mad, because now was not the time to hold grudges. The sarasa's were attacking, and there were barely any soldiers left to fight.

Mario meekly told the chancellor about his run in with Toad, afraid that he wouldn't be believed, but the chancellor looked shocked, and asked him where Toad had gone.  Mario felt quite guilty, and embarrassed, admitting that he had let the traitor slip away.

Chancellor just tried to smile a weak smile, a Mona Lisa kind of grin.  Apparently he was just relieved that he, and some others had been in another castle at the moment of the bombing, so in a way, the Sarasas had only done half the job they had intended.

The victims were in the infirmary of the second mushroom kingdom.  Daisy herself was in a coma.

Somewhat, Mario wanted to laugh.  If Daisy died, Luigi would be completely responsible.  He'd let his big head get him in trouble and not only would he have killed King Sarasa's daughter, but the only girl he had EVER truly loved.

But as Mario looked over Daisy, he couldn't help but hear her consoling words ringing in his ears…..

And now he was thinking of Peach all over again…..

_If only I had been there for her….._

He wiped his eyes, as if feeling the tears brewing.  Now he could only think of Luigi, and how no matter how Mario tried to fake anger, he had a soft spot for his little brother, and that, no matter what he did, he didn't deserve to lose his first true love.

An awkward little Luigi, far skinnier and taller than the other kids, hopped onto the school bus, practically breaking his back under his book bag.  He would sit in his own seat every day, staring out the window, trying to pretend silence made him happy, his thoughts were his true friends……

_And there was that pretty girl, long curly hair, long eye lashes.  He would have given anything for her to bat those eyelashes at him._

_But she didn't, she didn't even wink.  She just pulled a classic snob on him and flipped her hair._

_And as the years went by, Luigi's so called destiny fell in to place…_

_He was the silent kid, the slave to his prose, the kid who spent most of his time alone in the garage, working on car parts and machinery._

_And there was Mario, a much thinner vision of himself, but completely athletic, and quite a cheerleader or volleyball captain magnet._

_But at the end of the day, when he'd carpool home with luigi, it was always about the two brothers, there was no mention of girls.  Nothing mattered more than the two guys, cruising in their testosterone filled car, ranting on and on for hours about practically nothing._

Mario shook his head.  It was impossible how much damage he'd done to his life in such little time, and how impossible it was for him to handle it all.

He couldn't stand looking over top of Daisy weighing the life or death possibilities.  He practically flew out of the infirmary and found himself sitting on a chair somewhere in this unfamiliar castle.  He had only been in it a few times when it was under siege by Bowser, and he always managed to equip the castles with Lave and white brick interior.

It was frightening to have seen the main castle… Peach's home, crumbling and charred.

But even more frightening was his indecisiveness.  What side was he really on?

It was questionable, now that Peach was gone, but thinking that way was wrong… she wasn't gone… she wasn't!

Frog had been the one to inform the Toadstool's of Peach's death; Mario would have fallen into a withering, sobbing mess if he had tried to do the job.

Ceremonies were being held immediately.  A spot in the cemetery was being prepared with some of the most beautiful flower arrangements anyone had ever seen.  Peach didn't need any fixing up, or any of the flowers, or any of the extra glitz, even in her limp, inert form, she was beautiful.

Mario could have gazed at her inside of that casket forever.  It was painful to see her inside such a thing, but her beauty still mesmerized him, as if he were first laying his eyes upon her.

He had gotten to the point where he couldn't cry, all he could do was feel his heart cracking, and maybe choke a little, wishing he could just thrash and let out that contained despair.

Many People from other realms had gathered for the funeral.

Funeral…. How chilling of a sound….

It was insane how many friends and allies peach had had. All these people actually cared for her as well.  If only she had known that she had someone to turn to, and wasn't expected to be a circus act or try to impress anyone.

The cervices were thrown together in a sort of speedy manner.  The toadstools intended to be prepared for battle, but they had to give their princess a formal good bye.

Mario was to say a few words at the funeral, and he was suffering from a little tongue in the cheek syndrome.  What could he honestly say without falling to pieces?

When his moment came to speak, he didn't exactly write a long election worthy speech, but he seemed to grasp some attention.

"I've loved Peach from the moment I met her. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. She wasn't just a photo worthy face though, she was the love of my life."

"I can't begin to say to all of you how hurt I am.  I can't go back in time and say to her all I wish I would have said, but I think its unanimous, that no one could ever fill her shoes, and that she left a lot of lonely people behind her."

"We all should have been more thoughtful and helpful.  She suffered a lot, and had no other way to go.  At times, I treated her more like the pesky damsel in distress than the woman I was devoting myself too.  But I will always love Peach. Peach, if you can hear me, I just want to say…. Goodbye"

He could barely manage to say that, before scrambling away and closing his eyes.

Everyone seemed to find his words touching and smiled at him approvingly as he tried to manage not displaying his inner grieving.

How pompous and emotionless he must have appeared. He never let anyone see his tears, except for Peach, Daisy, and Luigi, the three people he cared about, yet had hurt, the most.

After the services came to an end, he was surprised to see the wario brothers walk up to him.  He hadn't seen them in years, and they honestly weren't their usual, sniggering, mustache-twirling selves.  They looked solemn and composed.  Mario almost felt as if he were imagining the entire thing.

"I had no idea you loved her that much…" waluigi said in a distant kind of voice.

Mario wanted to roll his eyes and return a sarcastic quote that would bring back their old rivalry, but he didn't have the heart.  He was glad to have their company.

"What's this all about?" he asked, though he felt cold in doing so.

Wario looked him straight in the eyes sincerely, something he had never done. "We want to join the Toadstools.  You guys need us."

Finally, a small bit of the haughty and overbearing wario was showing through, the only a small bit.

Mario laughed a little bit and put his hand on his shoulder. "You're right, we're doomed."

The three laughed in unison.  It felt strange to bond with the Wario brothers, but in a time of hardship, you had to have someone to run to for help, and it was good to know that behind that seemingly thoughtless exterior was two caring souls.    

What happened next however, Mario would NEVER have predicted. 

Crashing the party, was the infamous tatanga himself.  Daisy's kidnapper from a while back.  It was as if he materialized out of nowhere….

"Who forgot to send me an invite?" he cried, stirring many of the guests and causing most people to scream and run away.

"Calm down!" He said once again.  "I come with a peace offering!"

Everyone stopped dead in his or her tracks as the chancellor approached him, much shorter, and strength-wise, not having a leg to stand on. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"Bad news travels fast…" Tatanga said mysteriously.

Many people practically shivered with the releasing of those words. 

"What do you mean?" the chancellor asked.

"Simply put, I've heard a few things, and I'd like to make peace and become your ally."

The whole situation was uncertain.  If the Toadstool's nodded and welcomed him, they'd definitely have a strong chance of defeating the  Sarasa's but becoming allies with a generally bad-natured criminal was obviously just asking for trouble.

Chancellor apparently was bothered by none of this, he quickly said.  "Agreed" and forced another Mona Lisa style grin. 

Everyone just watched in horror. They all were terrified at the idea, but didn't dare question the Chancellor's decision.

.:*:.

Meanwhile, a dark shadow was looming before the second Sarasaland castle as a visitor far unknown to the Sarasa's appeared, King Bowser of the Koopas.  Along with him were his cronies the boos, koopas, goombas, and paratroopas.  

Honestly, Luigi was one of the only people who felt anger towards Bowser.  He had been the enemy to him for so long and actually battled against him.  The Sarasas however, had only agreed to help protect the Toadstools from him, and hadn't been able to do much about that.

Bowser had an offer the same as Tatanga's…….. peace.  He wanted to help the Sarasa's in defeating the mushroom kingdom…….


	14. The graveyard shift

**I upped the rating on this story to R, it's almost impossible to write a pg-13 war story.  Anyway, these characters aren't mine, but some locations are, I had to make up some places for the sake of battles, though the 4 kingdom names you will recognize from a past Mario game, and that's all I have to say! Ooo ya, and one author's note- for those who don't know, Tatanga is some Alien looking guy who kidnapped Daisy in an old school type of Mario game. He never kidnapped Peach, and Bowser never kidnapped Daisy, but for my own interest, I mixed up the allies a little, it should have some importance in future chapters.**

Mario didn't know quite what was wrong with him. After peach's funeral he'd suddenly felt very dizzy and had this nauseating lurch in his stomach.

_please… just go away…_ he had moaned to himself trying to ignore it.

It was late at dusk and the Toadstools had revised their attack plans. A handful of soldiers would keep watch, well hidden with invisibility caps, while the others rested up, and every few hours somebody would fill in so everybody got a shot at some sleep.

In the morning the Toadstools would attack the Muda Kingdom, Mario had his work cut out for him as he was expected to lead the men through, seeing as he had been through that kingdom once before when rescuing daisy years ago. The Chai Kingdom was the one Daisy resided in, home to the supreme rulers of Sarasaland, but the toadstools figured they had better cover more ground.

Mario had also been selected as one of the first group of watchmen, which didn't suit his liking at all. He just as well would have stood still with an apple on his head in the midst of thousands of armed Sarasa soldiers, if that would have entitled him to lie down for a little while. Every few minutes the world around him seemed to spin, and his stomach practically let out a wail of pain that caused him to violently fling himself to the ground.  He didn't think he'd make much of a watchman in his condition, but he didn't want to worry the Toadstools. It was probably just the stress of all the emotionally straining events.

He held a gun in his hand, and stood tall, using all the looks of courage and pride he could muster. He looked up at the stars, threw in a couple quick blinks to stop the scenery from flying by, and then tossed on his invisibility cap, soon vanishing into the night as all the other soldiers did.

Mario's eyes fluttered rapidly as he tried to keep them open.  He even leaned up against a tree trunk to keep his legs from giving out. A lot of good that did, it didn't even help him with his aching stomach, which now gave off the sensation of a fully thriving forest fire.

_what is wrong with you? You're perfectly well! This Is all in your head!_ he told himself, standing up straight and ignoring the urge to let his legs cave in.

It was a good thing he was invisible and nobody could see him, as he probably looked quite drunk, which would have given even his fellow Toadstool soldiers a bit of a laugh.

He hadn't seen Frog in a little while, which was rather unfortunate, as he may have had some medication or at the very least a mild pain reliever on hand.

There was at least a small bright side- nothing was going on.  The entire surrounding area was silent, which gave Mario a little while to regain his stability.

He yawned and held his arm in front of himself to see if he was reappearing yet.  He had at least three more invisibility caps to go through and was told they should all be used up before his resting period.

It really was beautiful out there at night.  He could almost hear gentle violin music playing in the background, though it only existed in his imagination.  There was nothing but the quiet of evening….

He remembered that Peach used to sit by her window and sing late at night- when she thought no one could hear her.  He had often gone through warp pipes and taken walks during the midnight hour just to hear her croon, her voice full of emotion and feeling. Her voice was soft and gentle, even when she had spoken there was always a melody, so to hear it float as she serenaded the moon was surreal.  It was a beauty beyond what he had ever thought possible. 

There was no singing, there was no Peach, there was just him, alone, staring at the silvery nightlight in the sky.

And he stood their now, another tear making its way out of his eye.  Would he never get over her? Was it so impossible to forget that look in her heavenly eyes?

His insides churned with sickness and despair, his aching body showing him no mercy.

He let his gun fall to the ground along with his lower body, his knees digging into the soil.  He could only rest his face in his palms, the gentle tears creating their own waterways through the lines on his glove-less hands.

He could remember a small part of this one particularly beautiful song he had once heard her sing……

"_hearts of satin, _

_not of stone_

_when you wander at night _

_on your own_

_the stars etch the way_

_they will piece us together_

_you never had to doubt_

_I will love you forever"_

As he chanted the words in his mind, he could almost hear them being sung from far away.  It was jolting, it sounded similar to Peach's voice, though not nearly as angelic.

He felt himself slipping away, sliding down on his back, his eyes shutting slowly… they had no intention to open for a while. He was falling into the calmest, most relaxing sleep he had experienced in a long time.

He awoke what felt like only moments later to someone shaking him.  "Quick!" a toadstool soldier cried! "they're emerging! Prepare yourself!"

Mario was stumbling all over the place as he grabbed his gun and tried to stand up straight.  He saw some Sarasa's approaching and immediately fired his gun, watching as the bodies hurled themselves to the ground and the blood oozed.  His invisibility had already worn off, but the rest of his caps were gone, that's when he felt a heavy blow on the back of his head, and couldn't maintain his balance.

He felt even dizzier now and could see nothing but patches of different colors- mostly black.  Something from behind continued to pound him, and he whirled around to see nothing but thick evening air.

His invisibility caps! Someone had stolen his invisibility caps!

Holding his throbbing head in one hand, his gun in the other, he simply used the gun as a type of stick, not wanting to waste the ammo on a target he couldn't see.

He felt around, trying to find some type of clothing to grip onto, to hold this bastard in place.  The best thing he could find was another hand, which he grabbed tight enough to cut off all circulation, and swing the person by ramming him into the tree he had been propped up against.

He then took his gun, as large as it was, and held it up to what he was certain was the person's head, and let off a couple of blasts.

He could hear groaning, and even feel blood collecting on his fingertips.  It began to show up on him, appearing as deep in shade as beet juice underneath the dark veil of night.

He dropped the limp body to the ground and clutched even tighter to his gun.  Who had those other two caps?

Ugh… the pounding in his head was getting harder and louder.  It just wouldn't cease. It was almost impossible to wander about searching for an invisible person with his head blinding him it hurt so badly.

He heard footsteps getting closer and closer. "Mario! LOOK OUT!" he heard Wario crying.

Mario whipped his head to the right, not even thinking straight, and left himself completely open as none other than Bowser, King of the koopas, trampled on top of him, heavy enough to break his stomach a part.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my pal Mario!" Bowser snickered, holding one of his arms up and showing of a toothy grin.

Mario aimed the gun at Bowser with his hand not even centimeters away from the trigger. 

Much to his surprise Bowser snorted.  "You've grown a little weak haven't you?" And with that, the king slid the gun out of Mario's grasp as if it were slicked up with oil.  Mario tried with all his might to kick Bowser off, but did nothing but wear himself out.

Luckily Wario was just inches away, and he dove for Bowser, shoving him off of Wario and even getting him into a head lock.

Bowser grinned once more, and spun himself around, hiding himself inside his shell and pushing his spikes our even further, breaking Wario's skin and causing him to jump back in terror.

"Holy shit!"  Wario cried, looking in horror at the gashes on his arms.

Mario didn't even move, he felt too good on the ground, his eyelids only a hair a part. He almost wanted to raise his arms up as if he were embracing the sky and yell, "Come on Death! Take me away!"

It seemed as if things couldn't get any worse.  Even more sarasa's were looming from the shadows and dropping out of bushes.  They were a lot stronger than Mario had originally assumed.

That's when 100's of rockets suddenly flew at warp speed towards Bowser and the rest.  Following the fleet of rockets was tatanga in his war robot, sniggering menacingly and unleashing even more, larger rockets.

The Sarasa's fled, though even more rockets were let off and Tatanga followed them for miles to come.  It wasn't until they were well out of the Toadstool lands that Tatanga stopped and returned.

Mario and Wario were in awe, especially Mario who for the first time in moments wore an expression other than dazed.

"I certainly won't recommend you as watchman, Mario, sir." Tatanga replied.  "Now move over, I'll keep an eye on them the entire night."

Mario didn't even bother to defend his pride, or at least cause tatanga the slightest pain.  He was grateful that he wasn't wanted, and right now didn't need anything but sleep.

**yes, I made up the song by myself, yes tatanga is real, yes the sarasa kingdoms I mentioned are really made by shigeru miyamato, and yes Tatanga actually does let off rockets! Now Review away!**


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